"As that favorite Nana, Irene, veteran actress Barbara Kingsley shines, able to toggle seamlessly between the vibrant, loving, lucid version of the character in flashback, and the slumped, tragically frozen person she's become with only brief flashes of her former self, like when she suddenly launches into a Christmas carol and sings the entire thing."
"The emotional center of the play turns out to be Bev played by the talented and eminently watchable Pamela Reed, who last graced the Berkeley Rep stage in 2020's . From Josh's Jewish side (his father's mother), Bev becomes Josh's greatest champion and comfort during his year at home. After another relapse, Josh learns that Bev, too, was a severe alcoholic, and she starts taking him to AA meetings, and seeing him every day through his recovery."
Berkeley Rep's 2025-26 season opened with a semi-autobiographical play examining parallels between severe alcoholism and dementia. The story centers on Josh, a twenty-something who relapses into alcoholism after leaving a sober house and dropping out of NYU, returning to his Colorado hometown. His mother has largely relinquished responsibility but allows him to stay to avoid homelessness. His favorite grandmother, Irene, develops dementia, prompting Josh to try to protect his other grandparents. Barbara Kingsley portrays Irene, shifting between lucid flashbacks and the frozen present. Pamela Reed’s Bev becomes Josh’s champion, reveals her own alcoholism history, and guides him to AA and daily support through recovery.
Read at sfist.com
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