‘Profound and enlightening’
‘Wonderfully compassionate and informative production’
“Real. Connected. Moved on so many levels’
‘Very poignant and oh so true’
Remarkable comments from audience members responding to The Keys are in the Margarine - a play about Dementia and Alzheimer’s.
Memory loss affects 2 out of every 3 New Zealanders in some way. Today, more than 70,000 New Zealanders live with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia – a number that is expected to triple by 2050.
The are conditions none of us can ignore, but few of us can understand – making this a significant piece of theatre. These are conversations we need to hear.
The Keys are in the Margarine is an award-winning unique form of verbatim, or documentary theatre, ‘real, mesmerizing, and an almost alarmingly truthful form of theatre’.
The play is created from interviews with people who have direct experience of these conditions – caregivers, family members, doctors and the people themselves. Their stories communicate the all-encompassing effect dementia has on their lives and everyone around them.
In the performance the four actors re-present the edited testimony from 17 people as precisely as possible. With the original voices playing in their ears, the actors relay the original words spoken (every vocal inflection, intonation and hesitation) as well as replicating the physical gestures and facial expressions that originally accompanied the words. The result is compelling, informative and stunning theatre.
The Keys are in the Margarine has already played to enthusiastic audiences during two national tours. WOW! Productions Trust is proud to be able to present the 2022 tour to Dunedin, Waiheke and Whangārei this August and September. Actors Serena Cotton, Nadya Shaw Bennett, Ross Johnston, and Cindy Diver perform under the direction of Professor Stuart Young, with design by Martyn Roberts and Anna van den Bosch. This is a piece not to be missed.
According to one reviewer The Keys are in the Margarine ‘interweaves hilarity with heartbreak to poignant effect, while providing deep insights on what it means to be human’.