by Laura Kressly
When Denise was a teenager in Southend, she was desperate to become a Hollywood star and willing to do anything to achieve it. Now, decades later, she’s living in a caravan and working as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator in Las Vegas, far removed from the life she dreamed of. Soap star Michelle Collins embraces the quirky and troubled Denise but the concept’s execution – an extended monologue to a pet snake – is contrived and dramaturgically flat.
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by Laura Kressly
As the population ages and continues to be threatened by underfunding and lack of adequate resources, quality care for elderly people is under threat. The acclaimed Irish play Lost Lear by Dan Colley challenges this by providing a narrative of hope. Safely tucked away in a care home, Joy (Venetia Bowe) re-lives the best moments of her life over and over again. Her care team have recreated the rehearsal process for her acclaimed turn in King Lear, which keeps her calm and content as dementia ravages her brain. Joy’s experience is both tragically beautiful and inspirational – may we all have this depth of experience as our minds slip below the horizon.
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The Play's The Thing UK 