An Evening with Dementia

It doesn’t sound like the most enticing of prospects but Trevor T Smith’s astonishing turn as a person with dementia doesn’t just make this play bearable, it makes it funny. Written and performed by Smith, An Evening with Dementia is an enlightening journey into a mind in descent. He doesn’t 'suffer' from dementia, he says very clearly, he simply ‘has’ it. From the comfort of his armchair, he tells us about his life with the disease and focuses on affecting details: his strategies to cover up the fact he’s forgotten someone’s name, his misery at wetting himself because he doesn’t want to ask for help to visit the toilet, his son’s anguish when he doesn’t recognise his wife.

It’s an arresting monologue with just the right balance of humour and dejection. Smith, an accomplished actor, is riveting in his role. He gives such a great performance that when he gets out of his chair to have a walk around, it’s all you can do to stop yourself rising to give him a hand down the stairs. He continually repeats facts about his life—like, “I used to be an actor, you know”—and by the end, people are nodding as you might when talking to an elderly relative. The show really strikes a chord with the audience, many of whom—young and old—are sobbing when the house lights go up. But it’s not depressing: rather, it’s extraordinarily life-affirming and a real Fringe highlight away from the usual big venues.