Actor Told He Had Alzheimer’s Is Preparing to Perform a One-Man Show

Peter Marinker once arrived at rehearsals for four consecutive days, only to discover that no rehearsals were scheduled. Dementia had scrambled the dates in his mind. Now, at 85, he is preparing to perform alone on a London stage in Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape.

Marinker received an Alzheimer's diagnosis two years ago, after he began “switching off” while playing Gandalf in a stage production of The Lord of the Rings. He had to leave that run early. The diagnosis, he says, explained why he kept losing things, and he learned to laugh at the repeated mishaps.

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I just had to accept it. It explained why I kept losing things and I started laughing at myself, at all the other silly things I do again and again.

The opportunity to return to a demanding role came from Dave Wybrow, director of London's Cockpit Theatre. Wybrow had worked with Marinker before and proposed Beckett's play, in which an ageing writer listens to recordings of his younger self and reflects on regrets and missed opportunities. Wybrow called it “a dynamite show and a dynamite piece of writing.”

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It's a dynamite show and a dynamite piece of writing.

Rehearsals began at the end of June, with extra preparation time and a team assembled around the actor. A stage manager will remain beside the set, autocue screens will be placed around the theatre, and a small earpiece will allow Marinker to receive prompts if he forgets a line.

Wybrow says the support is not intended to hide Marinker's illness. It is meant to demonstrate that creative work remains possible after a dementia diagnosis. Marinker, who first performed the role in 1983, has welcomed the chance enthusiastically. Recordings from that earlier production will be incorporated into the new performance as his character listens to echoes of his younger self.

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Dave asked would I like to do it, and I was just 'Yes. Oh yes, yes, yes, yes!'