POŘÁD JSEM TO JÁ (STILL ALICE)

 

“What’s it like? Having Alzheimer’s?” Alice Howland forgets. Where she’s supposed to be, when she’s supposed to be there, and who’s supposed to be there. We’ve all experienced forgetfulness – keys, names, words. It can be caused by fatigue, stress, or lack of sleep. If you’re a woman in your fifties, menopause can be a cause of these problems. Alice is different. Alice has Alzheimer’s.

 

Home gradually becomes an unfamiliar place for her, loved ones lose their faces and names, and time stops working. The connections between neurons are severed, memories and personality disappear. Spatial orientation is lost, the ability to recall the face of a loved one is lost, and eventually a person forgets how to swallow.

 

Alzheimer's is a struggle with anxiety that comes several times a day, along with the feeling that something unexpected is happening. A struggle with the weight of knowing that the disease is incurable, because its progress can be slowed down, but not reversed. Of course, it is difficult for loved ones to watch their loved one gradually change until only a face remains.

 

But that face is etched with memories of the times we spent together. The good and the bad. The opportunity to enjoy our last moments together, to say goodbye without regret or remorse.

 

The performance is presented by the Come Within Reach Association at the Venus Theatre in Švehlovca.

 

Directed by: Tereza Říhová

Novel by: Lisa Genova

Translation: Adéla Šotolová

Dramatization: Christine Mary Dunford

Dramaturgy: Tereza Říhová, Patrik Boušek

Design: Jana Hauskrechtová

Music: Matej Strunc

Producer: Jiri Okos

Co-producer: Daniel Krejčík

Production: Veronika Vrzalová

 

Cast: Jitka Schneiderová, Zuzana Bydžovská, Daniel Krejčík / Jiří Spišák, Martina Jindrová / Yvona Stolařová, Dana Černá / Jana Trojanová, Petr Kolman

 

Performance length: 100 minutes including intermission

Premiere: 31. 1. 2025

photo: Michaela Škvrňáková