You only have until Nov. 18 to experience “Dot” at the Billie Holiday Theatre in Brooklyn, so please pick up tickets as soon as you can! This production, written by Colman Domingo and directed by Tony Award winning director Kenny Leon, is one of the most extensive plays that you will experience dealing with the delicate issue of Alzheimer’s disease and mental health in the Black community.
From the time that the production starts and every moment throughout the drama you are thrust into the very frustrating, confused, at times funny, at times sad world of a person who is suffering from Alzheimer’s. You watch as Dotty struggles with constantly asking the same questions over and over. You watch as she starts to cook food, gets distracted and leaves the food on the stove so that her oldest daughter Shelly has to step in to cook the food.
What is so moving about this play is how real the situation is and the realistic feelings that the characters have. Dotty is feeling lost; she is feeling that she is a burden. Dotty is talking about not being a burden on people. Imagine that you sometimes know who the family around you are and other times you don’t. Imagine not being sure of whether it is day or nighttime. Imagine having a friend come by and addressing that person as someone else. Dotty is trapped in a world where she can’t control her own mind or the moment that she is in but is still trying to fight through to keep her reality current.
Shelly is feeling frustrated in dealing with a mother who isn’t the person she grew up knowing. Shelly is feeling overwhelmed because she is the only one of Dotty’s three children who is stepping up and taking responsibility for the care of their mother. During a visit around Christmastime, everything comes to the surface. Donnie, Dotty’s gay, middle child, comes to visit from New York with his husband Adam. Donnie has not been responding when Shelly has called many times to say she needs help. She needs money and wants to put Dotty into an assisted living program. Shelly has hired Fidel, a Russian immigrant, to take care of Dotty three days a week, but she has to worry about Dotty when he’s not there. Shelly, who is an attorney, has been so stressed that she has had to take Dotty with her when she goes to work at her law office. Shelly is also upset with her unfocused younger sister Averie, who lives in her basement and really can’t help financially to take care of their mother.
There are so many emotions that you go through while watching this play. Donnie is in denial of the seriousness of his mother’s illness. Averie is an upbeat, funny person who tries to lighten the mood, but even she has to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation.
Every character has problems that they are facing outside of Dotty’s illness and you watch as they deal with their issues as well. A family friend, Jackie, comes by to visit during the holidays and has her own story going on. She struggles with her problems, while also being touched by Dotty’s sad situation.
This play will make you see the world through the eyes of the person that suffers with Alzheimer’s and through the eyes of the caregivers, family and friends. It is absolutely wonderful to experience and will have you in tears. I cried so many times during the production, but I was not alone; many people around me could be heard weeping. When a production can touch you because it so vividly and lovingly paints a picture of something that is a real issue in our community, it is certainly something worth experiencing. You need to take generations of family members to see “Dot.”
Now the storyline is first-rate, but it must be acknowledged that the cast does a phenomenal job. Every member is outstanding in the delivery of these engrossing characters. The cast includes Denise Burse as Dotty, Tinasha Kajese-Bolden as Shelly, Gilbert Glenn Brown as Donnie, Lee Osorio as Adam, Amber A. Harris as Averie, Rhyn McLemore Saver as Jackie and Benedetto Robinson as Fidel. The Billie Holiday Theatre, located at 1368 Fulton St. in RestorationART, is a gem in Brooklyn and is starting off its 51st season, yes, I said 51st season, with this superb play after a $4.1 million renovation. For ticket information, call 1-866-811-4111.
