Audience members laughed and cried – but mostly laughed – at The Grandel Theatre on Wednesday, August 1 as they watched an African-American family experience the effects of Alzheimer’s disease play out through the production of “Forget Me Not.”
The presentation of the play, which is underway with its tenth annual national tour, was part of the programming for the 46th annual National Black Nurses Association (NBNA) Conference that took place in St. Louis from July 30-August 5. The conference brought about a thousand black nursing professionals and administrators to the St. Louis region – including the more than 300 who came to see “Forget Me Not.”
The play uses an urban/gospel stage performance format, which tends to keep things light and fun – but the heavy parts of the production seemed to hit close to home. Several members of the audience were moved to tears as family patriarch June suffers through the disease. It was all too real for them, as their emotional responses seemed to clue feelings of a familiar dynamic.
June’s family and his inner circle notice something is off with him. His short-term memory dissipates before their eyes. However, they are too bogged-down with other matters – particularly the failing health of the family matriarch – to give the clues that all is not well much attention.
“I have a granddaughter. She wears a shirt with three letters across her chest. I just can’t remember her name,” June said.
June repeats stories over and over. He doesn’t realize where he is. They charge his behavior to old age – that is, until a barely averted tragedy forces them to face the fact that the funny but strong father figure who was once the cornerstone of their family needs help.
“When you get mad and frustrated, it ain’t us – it’s the disease,” June said in the final scene. “Think back on all the good times we had together. I might not remember your name, but I have feelings. When you fuss and yell at me, I get confused – and I don’t want to be confused. I don’t want to disappoint nobody.”
There was an audible emotional response to his words. Deep gasps and sniffles could be heard during the pauses in his monologue.
“I want to change the way the world looks at Alzheimer’s disease,” playwright, director, producer and star of “Forget Me Not” Garrett Davis wrote in the program notes.
Davis stars as June, alongside Samantha McSwain, Javon Bell, Latonya Sims, Kynya Milam and Darren McGill. In addition to writing the play and touring with the production as the star, Davis founded the Forget Me Not Project. The play and the project have the support of AfricanAmericansAgainstAlzheimer’s, which is a network of UsAgainstAlzheimer’s.
The mission of the Forget Me Not Project is to raise the awareness of Alzheimer’s disease in all communities and to enhance the capacity of and support for caregivers, while educating the general public – with special emphasis on underserved communities where health disparities exist.
Stephanie Monroe of AfricanAmericansAgainstAlzheimer’s said that while Alzheimer’s is the sixth-leading cause of death in the United States, it is the fourth-leading cause of death for older African Americans.
“Alzheimer’s is the only disease in the top 10 causes of death that doctors can’t prevent, slow or cure,” Monroe said. “And though African Americans are 13 percent of the U.S. population, we bear 33 percent of the total cost of Alzheimer’s in the United States.”
Alzheimer’s disease currently affects more than 5.3 million Americans, according to the Alzheimer’s Association, and the disease is expected to increase by 70 percent over the next 70 years unless science finds a way to prevent it, slow it or cure it.
“I may not live long enough to see a cure,” Davis said. “But it is my prayer that the endless work that our staff does will witness that day when we can see a world without Alzheimer’s.”
