Still Alice: Remembering Those Who Cannot
By Aisling Dillon-Roberts
Still Alice is a play based on the book by Lisa Genova. Adapting this play has been an honour. This is my first time being on a production team and I could not be working with a more supportive, understanding and talented cast and crew. What I love about this script is that it feels so real. Anyone who has a member of their family with dementia will immediately see themselves and their own struggles in the struggles of Alice and her family as they try to navigate this disease.
Dr. Alice Howland (Clóda Markey) is a renowned linguistics professor, she is clever, independent and headstrong. Alice's inner monologue is portrayed through the character of herself (Amy McLoughlin), the inclusion of Herself in the play gives an important insight into Alice’s internal struggle as her disease progresses. Alice starts noticing that she is forgetting little things, words are escaping her and she starts becoming lost on her daily jogs. Alice seeks medical advice from two doctors, Dr. Tamara (Emily Ahern) and Dr.Davis (Cormac Ruane). Alice is given a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
She then spends the rest of the show navigating this disease along-side her husband John (Dom Byrne), and her two children, Lydia (Ella Coughlan) and Thomas (Mark McCabe). This play is honest in its portrayal of both the beautiful and the tragic moments of Alice's life. You cry with Alice in her darkest moments, yet you manage to see the brighter moments with Alice as well. As the strong willed Alice struggles to hang on to her sense of self for as long as possible, her family struggle with their conflicting opinions on what is best for Alice. Meanwhile, Alice is attempting to make the most of her remaining time and find the love and peace to make simply living worthwhile. This script, although definitely sorrowful at points, is filled with so much love and care; there is something extremely human about how Alice’s story is told.
It is a privilege to be able to raise awareness towards the Alzheimer society of Ireland with this show. This disease is often not discussed in wider conversations around health, despite the fact that there are over 64,000 people living with dementia in Ireland currently. We were lucky enough to have the Alzheimer society of Ireland call in and chat with us last week. We were speaking with the wonderful Maire-Anne from their dementia carers campaign network and she used a maya angelou quote that I think really encapsulates the nature of this disease and the message we’re trying to convey with this production.
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will NEVER forget how you made them feel" - Maya Angelou
Still Alice will show in the St.Pats auditorium this week on the 22nd and 23rd of March, with a portion of proceeds going to The Alzheimer Society of Ireland.
