Sundowning

By Nessah Muthy

Autumn 2018
Plymouth, London, Slough

What is the true cost of care?

When Alyssa returns home from prison, she’s devastated to find her aunt has put her beloved grandmother Betty in a care home. Determined to give Betty one last jolly, jingle-filled holiday and recapture happy childhood memories, Alyssa kidnaps her and the pair embark on a campervan road trip to the seaside. But soon Betty’s dementia and Alyssa’s troubled past catch up with them.

Sundowning is a compelling play about love, loneliness and guilt between three generations of women.

Cast

Hazel Maycock as Betty Nadia Nadif as Teresa
Aasiya Shah as Alyssa

Production

Director — Helena Bell
Designer — Rajha Shakiry
Video Designer — Daniel Denton
Lighting Designer — Pablo Fernandez Baz
Sound Designer — Dinah Mullen
Dramaturg — Helena Bell
Choreographer — Yarit Dor
Production Manager — Kate Jones
Stage Manager — Charlotte Cooper

Nadia Nadif as Teresa — Photo by Robert Day

Hazel Maycock as Betty and Nadia Nadif as Teresa — Photo by Robert Day

Hazel Maycock as Betty and Aasiya Shah as Alyssa — Photo by Robert Day

Aasiya Shah as Alyssa and Hazel Maycock as Betty — Photo by Robert Day

Nadia Nadif as Teresa and Hazel Maycock as Betty — Photo by Robert Day

★★★★ ‘Muthy nails the way sensory experiences can burst through the dementia haze… The temptation of the play is to look away. The strength of this play is that we cannot’

–The Guardian
★★★★ 'Muthy’s dramatisation… is touching and emotionally challenging -an excellent piece of thought-provoking theatre’

—Plymouth Herald
★★★★ 'An outstanding performance from Hazel Maycock whose portrayal of Betty is worth the price of admission alone’

—SpyInTheStalls
★★★★ ‘probably one of the most sensitive portrayals of dementia seen on stage. It doesn’t tiptoe around it, but it never seems to take advantage of it either…. a lovely, emotive piece of theatre.'

–TheReviewsHub

sundowning

★★★★ ‘Muthy nails the way sensory experiences can burst through the dementia haze… The temptation of the play is to look away. The strength of this play is that we cannot’

★★★★ 'Muthy’s dramatisation… is touching and emotionally challenging -an excellent piece of thought-provoking theatre’

★★★★ 'An outstanding performance from Hazel Maycock whose portrayal of Betty is worth the price of admission alone’

★★★★ ‘probably one of the most sensitive portrayals of dementia seen on stage. It doesn’t tiptoe around it, but it never seems to take advantage of it either…. a lovely, emotive piece of theatre.'

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