Premiere of a new play tackling dementia with tears and laughter

Ocras have teamed up with Brickhouse Theatre Company for the staging of a new play, The Cello Player, set in a care home for older people with dementia. It centres on the relationship between a former international concert performer and a truculent, bitter newcomer to the home, and will be staged in the Auditorium of Robinson College, Grange Road, Cambridge, from Thursday May 10 to Saturday May 12. Angelica, the cello player - now suffering from dementia - was and is loved by those around her. For Nellie, who has been suffering depression since the death of her husband, the story is somewhat different as she feels unwanted by her family.
Written by Cambridge-based Irish playwright Patrick Corbett, the play gets its first staging in this production in which Ocras Theatre, the semi-professional former Irish Theatre Company, teams up with Cambridge University theatre company, Brickhouse. Dealing with cross-currents of dementia and memory, the play explores the fragility of the self with a host of wonderful characters, all played by the six people in the cast, offsetting the issues of the play with empathy, humour, and live music. The climax of the play is dramatic, but through the tragedy, Nellie tackles her depression and feels that there is hope just around the corner.
Director Collette Nicholls, who studied drama and education at Cambridge, said: "The production consists of town, gown and professional practitioners in keeping with our mission of mixing professional, community and student actors in a spirit of learning and sharing skills. This has been made possible thanks to a generous grant from Cambridge City Council. The subject matter presents huge challenges for the cast in terms of presenting the characters sympathetically. Our aim is to do justice to Patrick's text, and to create food for thought and discussion."

The play starts at 7.45 pm and tickets are available on www.brickhousetheatre.co.uk or by telephone: 01480 459899.