This revival of Luke Adamson’s tender, beautifully observed play about encroaching Alzheimer’s, and inspired by his grandmother, is very welcome at a time when this hideous disease is in almost every family but not discussed or understood enough.

Recently widowed Alice (Judy Tcherniak) comes across her old dancing shoes and eventually decides she wants to revisit Blackpool where she and her late husband danced in 1958. Her daughter Mandy (Janna Fox), pulled in all directions, agrees to take her. At the hotel they meet manager Georgette (Julia Faulkner) who works a little miracle for Alice despite Blackpool’s having changed out of all recognition. As the 70 minute play progresses, Alice’s condition worsens steadily and there’s a chilling scene on the beach when she wanders off and gets lost.

Tcherniak is fragile, forgetful and convincing as Alice, one minute sweetly compliant and the next irascible and distressed, frustrated by her own brain – and in denial.  Fox makes Mandy totally believable too, loving her mother but with her irritation never far below the surface. The scenes between the two of them are very well judged and directed.

The outstanding performance in this production, however, is Faulkner who has played this role before. At first she’s all bossy obsequiousness and Mrs Slocombe, her vowel sound tortuously distorted. Then as she forges a friendship (of sorts) with Mandy because her own mother had Alzheimer’s her voice naturalises – it’s an impressively nuanced piece of acting. Finally she confesses to Mandy why she is racked by guilt and it’s pretty powerful theatre.

This play is not heavy or gloomy, however, In places it’s wryly funny. I defy anyone not to smile at Georgette’s repeated “croysont” or “pan o chocolate” or to enjoy her hangover through which she struggles to itemise a cooked breakfast for Alice who then, because her tired brain can’t cope, makes her repeat it.

The set is a masterpiece of low budget imaginativeness too. It consists mostly of cardboard boxes some of which are arranged to suggest a small hotel check-in. Others suggest furniture in Alice’s home. Some are simply boxes which Alice should have unpacked but hasn’t. There is, however, a lovely visual surprise at the end.

Warmly nostalgic music takes us back to 1958 with Alice. It’s particularly good to hear Elvis Presley’s Are You Lonesome Tonight? with his impeccable diction, perfect intonation and  accurate timing. The slow waltz tempo is irresistibly appropriate so it really doesn’t matter that it wasn’t released until 1960, when we’re meant to be focused on 1958.

I first saw this play in 2018 when it was produced by Black Coffee Theatre at Greenwich. My late husband, who by then had quite advanced Alzheimers, came with me and the level of his engagement astonished me. I have very positive memories of that evening.  I was therefore  curious to see it again now because obviously I identify with every word of carer anxiety, fury, disbelief and guilt. Yes, I can confirm it still works very well as drama and I was glad I had a tissue in my hand at the end.

The play text was published in March by Renard Press and is available via Amazon or from bookshops: One Last Waltz by Luke Adamson IBSN 978-1-80447-027-5