'As with so many Fringe events, ‘And before I forget I love you, I love you’ is original and thought-provoking’, says Andrew Morris...
OUR VERDICT
In this emotive solo performance, Pip Utton takes the audience on a journey to help us understand better the devastating impact of Alzheimer’s disease.
Michael, delivering a eulogy to his beloved wife Chrissie at her funeral, tells us – family and friends of the devoted couple - how they met at school; how they first made love as teenagers on a trip to Paris, resulting in son John; about their subsequent careers as teachers. And about their whimsical bucket-list in later life, to visit John and his own family in Australia, to see Polar bears, to walk in the snow of a Saint Petersburg winter…and to kill Tony Blair.
But the onset of Alzheimer’s curtails their adventures and Michael has been deprived of the love of his life. Back home, with a bottle of whisky now his only company, Michael reads a letter written by Chrissie a few years ago, aware of the fate that would envelop her. ‘And before I forget I love you, I love you...’
The performance is full of humour and affection, alongside inevitable tears and sadness. And a darker side is introduced later, with the realisation that Michael is heading in the same forgetful direction. His own deterioration is cleverly communicated through audience participation and a series of questions from the unseen doctor to test his memory. Anger, vitriol and despair replace hope.
Pip Utton wrote this powerful piece of immersive theatre and performs with total conviction and credibility, the latest in a long line of monodramas that has seen him become Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare and Maggie Thatcher in critically acclaimed productions around the world.
‘And before I forget I love you, I love you’ has kicked off April Fringe Week, with other innovative productions on all this week (April 08-14) in The Back Room of the Star Inn, Guildford. Check out the Guildford Fringe website for details.
Venue: The Back Room of The Star Inn, Guildford
Dates: 08 April 2019, Mon-Fri 7:30 pm
Ticket prices: £12 + booking fees
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