Theatre | The Guardian

Before I Forget review – actors shine in moving story of dementia, language and legacy

Tim Byrne — Sat, 31 Oct 2026 19:00:52 GMT

Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne
When the three leads share the stage, this poignant new work crackles with energy and wit. But it sags in the moments between

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Some theatrical ideas come with poignancy and depth baked into their conceit, as if a playwright need only set the characters down in a situation for the work to write itself. Before I Forget, the tale of three generations of First Nations women grappling with the early-onset dementia of their matriarch – a famed linguist and academic who holds decades of ancestral knowledge in her rapidly unravelling mind – should be just such a play. It is moving and resonates outwards. But it ultimately fails to deliver on its powerful promise, as if haunted by a better play waiting in the wings.

It opens on a lecture – a didactic mode which, in this work, the playwright, Kamarra Bell-Wykes, never fully shakes – delivered by Faith Well (Roxanne McDonald), celebrating her work with the Badtjala/Butchella language and the dictionary she produced for future generations. Her memory falters mid-speech and suddenly we are in the present: her daughter, Karma (Melodie Reynolds-Diarra), and granddaughter, Hope (Tyallah Bullock), need to know where the keys are, and grandma has forgotten again.

Theatre | The Guardian

Before I Forget review – actors shine in moving story of dementia, language and legacy

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