What do you do when a loved one slowly begins to forget the life you’ve lived together?
Dementia is a subject that has been explored (effectively and movingly) many times over – “The Notebook”’s ending is perhaps one of the more striking examples in recent history.
What these stories have perhaps overlooked is the pain and confusion this horrible condition also inflicts on families. “Visitors”, written and directed by Barnie Norris, addresses this very thing.
Edie (Tessa Bell-Briggs) has led a long and happy life with husband Arthur (Christopher Ravenscroft), living on their farm in rural Wiltshire. Their lives haven’t been without challenges, but as Edie says – if they had the chance to live them again, they wouldn’t do very much differently.
But Edie is starting to forget things. She gets confused. She returns to the same anecdotes, losing track of what’s going on around her. And Arthur is struggling to support her, and run the farm, by himself.
Their son Stephen (Patrick Toomey) is too busy with his own family to provide ongoing help, and so he arranges for Kate (Nathalie Barclay) to stay with them and help out around the house.
But as Edie’s condition worsens, and Stephen’s own problems start to impact on the family, they start to wonder – can Edie safely remain at home?
It’s a problem many families encounter when their loved ones’ care needs become too much to handle. On the one hand, we want the best for them, and that can often mean a move to a care home. But how easy is it to move someone into one, knowing that they’ll live out their days in a strange new environment?
And is a home anything more than a house, when the people who made it “home” have gone?
These are deep and affecting issues which are brought to life by a very talented cast. Supporting someone with a degenerative condition gives rise to many complex emotions, and the cast do a fantastic job of portraying these characters as complex, multi-faceted people who respond to stress in a variety of ways. No-one here is an angel; but everyone is relatable.
Their efforts are complemented by a simple yet effective set design, which places the action squarely in Edie and Arthur’s living room – itself the beating heart of every family home. However, the presence of wheat stalks on the set’s perimeter never lets you forget both the beauty, and the isolation, of the family’s home; without a word being spoken you can understand both why they love living here, and why that’s an unsustainable arrangement in light of Edie’s condition.
Credit is also due to Norris for finding the humour and the warmth in what could otherwise be an overwhelmingly bleak story; stress elicits many responses, but laughter is often among them, as are recollections of gentler and happier times.
Perfect for those of us who aren’t afraid to look at the challenges awaiting couples in the later stages of life – and to explore the different and complex ways we try to help each other when facing those pressures – “Visitors” comes highly recommended.
“Visitors” runs from the 31st March to 22nd April; tickets can be booked at https://www.watermill.org.uk/visitors. Photos are courtesy of Pamela Raith.
