“Still Alice” by Christine Mary Dunford
Nottingham New Theatre

Alice Howland is a university professor at the height of her career when she is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. Fiercely independent, with a husband and two children, Alice strives to make sense of her changing world as her memory begins to fail.

Having not read the novel or seen the film, this story was new to me, and I'm glad that this was the first that I had seen of this piece of theatre.

We see the rate that this disease takes over someone and the effects it has on, not just the victim, but by her family as well. The frustration of everyone who came into contact with the effects of this disease was easy to see and I couldn't imagine living or coping with such an evil affliction.

One scene shows that Alice set her alarm on her phone at the same time every day to go through a regime of remembering a set of answers to questions. Can you imagine doing that every day and the realisation of Alzheimer's getting worse?

There is a particular scene which she has set herself directions for if the disease got to hard to handle, which for me came as a bit of a shock.

It doesn't take too much to be affected by this play by putting yourself in any of these characters' places, least of all Alice's place.

This group of actors really brought the emotions to the play. Frustration, anger, helplessness, love, fragility.

Technically, I enjoyed the visual timeline and images through the seasons. The lighting design was sympathetic to the story and the characters and the Sound Design added a sublime feel to the story.

I am also so pleased that the play ran without an interval. You become so enveloped in the story that to add a break would have not been beneficial to the story or flow.

Directed by Will Tillett, who has a personal association with Alzheimer’s, which affected his Grandma, his sensitive approach was visibly effective.

“Still Alice” is at the Nottingham New Theatre until Saturday 16 November.