Shawn Carr's Fine "Lost Memories"

Shawn Carr’s play Lost Memories at Starlighter’s Theater is well-worth the trip to Anamosa. The characters of the family members are well-drawn and very down-home plausible. Robert Kurt, the actor who plays Jack Hanley is right on the money, especially in the transition phases of the illness. Shawn’s plot twist there is not only believable but keeps the audience engaged. I really loved how well Kurt captured and mirrored the mental disintegration physically. Once I knew it was happening, I looked to see if it would be visible. I might even say he could go for more of that leaden physical inflexibility that mirrors the mental disintegration of Alzheimers. 1^st rate, Kurt!

One might even conjecture that the characters are too down-home and there is too much unanimity in the Hanley-Delaney household. The only real contention is late in the play when a sister arrives after a divorce-induced absence and someone calls her on it.

What Lost Memories needs is more contention, more spats and more alternative explanations for Alzheimers, in which the play is totally lacking. The heavy hand of the Alzheimer’s Association is all too visible. I am sure they were a great deal of help in outlining the issues, but they have caused excessive focus on theme.  Plays are about the interactions between people.

There are no alternative explanations for Alz beyond genetics, but in my own extended family I heard one recently—concussions. We live in a chemically tainted world. Last week they sprayed the field behind me with an airplane. We have barely a gallon of untainted surface water in Iowa. Who knows what these chemicals are causing—what if a genetic predisposition to the ill effects of these chemicals is what causes it? Damn!

I sat through the whole play dying for the daughter—or somebody—to challenge the genetic explanation, give us something to chew on intellectually and the play to have more contention, texture and contrast. More’s the pity—this is a really good play, it might be great.