Translated from Francois Archambault’s Tu te souviendras de moi, this play is an intense family drama brought to life with sharp writing and nuanced performances from the entire cast.
Edouard (Kevin McNulty), an aging former professor and outspoken intellectual, develops dementia while retaining his meticulous historical memory for dates and details. His family struggles to cope with his constant short term memory failure, which grows worse. Madeleine (Patti Allan), his wife, needs a break from looking after him, and they show up unannounced at their daughter’s house.
Isabelle (Marci T. House) is a stressed-out reporter who has to leave for an assignment, and her partner Patrick (Craig Erickson) offers to look after Edouard for the weekend. The two of them become friends despite Edouard constantly forgetting his name and reverting to calling him Michel, who was Isabelle’s ex. Patrick has some fun when Edouard keeps asking him what he does for a living, and changes his answer each time — each answer more outlandish than the last.
One evening, Patrick hires his daughter Berenice (Sereana Malani) to watch Edouard for him while he goes to play poker with his buddies. The scene with Edouard asking if Berenice is one of his former students and if they have slept together was wonderfully funny. She finally gets him to write in his trusty notebook about “the girl with the brown hair” who is “Patrick’s daughter.” After he reads this he has a moment of recognition before falling back into confusion and asking “who’s Patrick?” Berenice becomes exasperated with him, but their relationship grows, and the way she begins to care about him is touching.
Berenice discovers that Edouard had another daughter who committed suicide, and he used to call her Berenice, her middle name. After a confused episode in which Edouard begins to think she is that same Berenice, she decides to go along with it. This moment when Berenice decides to impersonate his deceased daughter was a turning point in the play and a huge ethical dilemma that we were forced to confront. Was it the right thing for her to do? It seems to be therapeutic for Edouard to talk to Berenice, but does that forgive the dishonesty?
Meanwhile, Madeleine drops the bomb that she’s met another man and will be leaving Edouard with Isabelle for good. So many complex themes about family dynamics, dementia, love, unsolved trauma, and aging were dealt with in this intricately woven play that also manages to weave political tensions in Quebec into the story. By the end of the play, Edouard realizes that the immediate moment is enough to keep him going, and we all feel more appreciative of our ability to remember the past, and more conscious of our lives in the present.
You Will Remember Me is presented by Ruby Slippers Theatre from November 17–28 at The Cultch. For more information, visit thecultch.com.
