The story of Tom and Viv, their love and the life they’ve shared together – from first spark to dying light. But not necessarily in that order.
Tristan Bernays’ Old Fools is a surprising and touching play about a couple, their experience of Alzheimer’s, and their enduring efforts to hold their relationship together through the years. It premiered at Southwark Playhouse, London, in 2018.
Tristan Bernays’ previous plays include Boudica at Shakespeare’s Globe, Testament at VAULT Festival, his one-man show The Bread & The Beer and Teddy (winner of the Off West End Award for Best New Musical 2016).
‘Holds the stage with confidence… Bernays drives the story forward with great skill’ Guardian on Boudica
‘Energy and invention abound. Remarkable’ Evening Standard on Teddy
‘Deft, restraining and moving theatre… a light-of-touch portrait of a relationship through the prism of memory’
— Time Out
‘A parable that somehow moves and finds light in the deterioration of the mind – through love… this terribly sad play is worthy of a place in your memory’
— Independent
‘One of the most moving and beautiful plays I have seen. It is written with honesty and both joyous and painful’
— British Theatre Guide
‘The sort of piece that leaves you laughing and weeping at the same time, so clear is its understanding of the human condition, the distress of degenerative illness and the power of love… Old Fools is an informative and important new play from an inventive young writer unafraid of challenging perceptions. He finds heart-wrenching drama in the midst of the straightforward and ordinary. Brave and significant, it is a work that can change attitudes to an often misunderstood condition, as well as cementing Bernays’ place as a major and forceful talent’
— The Reviews Hub
‘Emotionally piercing… leaves a lasting ache’
— The Stage
‘Poignant… a snapshot of a little of what it means to live with Alzheimer’s’
— WhatsOnStage
