Remembrance

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Memory is fragile. It is not nearly as precise as we imagine, as some of the opening lines of the song “I Remember It Well” from the film Gigi demonstrate: Honoré: “We met at nine.” Mamita: “We met at eight.” Honoré: “I was on time.” Mamita: “No, you were late.”

This fragility is not a noticeable feature of memory, as evidenced by people’s insistence on “remembering it well.” What is not always apparent is the inaccurate details of the memory recall by the person doing the recall. It is one of the reasons that eyewitness descriptions are often at odds with the reality of the event in question. This lack of precision in the recall is also a dynamic in people’s encounters with memory loss as a function of age, calling it “a senior moment” or, more accurately, “brain fog.”

It is important to understand that when retrieving a memory, a story is being constructed, not as a perfect recounting of the event but as a reinterpretation of its elements, with parts omitted or distorted and other alterations made based on changes in context and perspective.

Remembrance by Patricia GoodSon is a story about her journey, for more than a decade, in dealing with her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease. As directed by Joan Kane, it is told from the perspective of a woman working with a therapist to unravel the emotional impact of those years of caregiving. It is not about the impact of the disease on the person with it but on the effect on the caregiver.

If exploring the implications of such an experience was not enough, the notion of how one’s memories are shaped when recalling them is a crucial element in the story. It becomes a matter of remembering how one wants to remember, not necessarily the reality of the events that shaped the memory.

Regardless of some of the play’s structural and performance weaknesses, it is a work worth experiencing to gain some understanding of the impact of Alzheimer’s disease on the families affected by it.

A brief prologue introduces Moma, solidly portrayed by Beth Griffith, whose performance is strongly supported by Bryn Eva O’Connor as Amy, the young adult daughter of Moma and her primary family caregiver. Zane Julia plays the older Amy, whose interactions with Doctor Blake, one of two doctors embodied by David Odukoya, provide the narrative framework for the scenes played out by Griffith and O’Connor. Kkuumba Siegell presents a fully believable caregiver named Nadine.

The scenes with Griffith, O’Connor, and Siegell bring the story to life. They make a solid connection with each other through their characters and with the audience. Julia and Odukoya’s performances are solid, given the material they must work with and Kane’s direction. Still, there are moments when the characterizations do not seem to ring true.

One such exchange happens when Dr. Blake loses his temper with Amy. It is not likely that a trained psychiatrist would lose emotional control when dealing with a client struggling with the intense emotional trauma that Amy has experienced.

Another issue is the didactic nature of some of Amy’s dialogue. The story loses an opportunity to strongly connect to the audience with these “preachy” exchanges about medical staff insensitivity and caregiver inadequacies. The interactions between Amy and Dr. Blake in the therapy sessions have less impact than the scenes depicting the events that created those memories.

An interesting dramatic device GoodSon uses is Moma’s reaction to the things happening around her and her environment through dialogue at a point where she is bedridden and non-verbal. The commentary spoken by Moma provides additional context and definition to the story. It provides insight into what may be going on in her deteriorating brain in dealing with the day-to-day activities through which she is being guided.

The dialogue is also a revealing element in GoodSon’s emotional connection with the story. These moments of lucidity by Moma, directed to the audience, can be seen as the playwright dealing with her feelings about the impact of caregiving on her mother as if her mother was able to perceive that impact. It is an expression of belief, possibly masking guilt since it is impossible to know what Moma was actually thinking.

Set designer Jonas Harrison created three minimalist sets depicting a bedroom, a doctor’s office, and a subway car. The bedroom is the most detailed of the three, with a bed and a curtain above it, covered with cutouts of butterflies. This element relates to the prologue. Bruce A! Kraemer’s lighting design is effective in moving the focus of the action among the three sets. The costume design by Billy Little does an excellent job of helping define the characters. Joy Linscheid’s sound design works solidly with all the elements of the production.

Remembrance (through April 6, 2025)

Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, in Manhattan

For tickets, call 212-154-1109 or visit http://www.theaterforthenewcity.net

Running time: 70 minutes without an intermission