Memories of the Game by
Memories Of The Game is a drama that centers on the challenges of a family working to accept the illnesses they can control and those they can’t. The action takes place in the McIntosh home, a middle class African American family of four in Kansas City, MO. Kenneth; the head of the household in his late fifties is suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. It is a difficult reality for him to accept. When...
Memories Of The Game is a drama that centers on the challenges of a family working to accept the illnesses they can control and those they can’t. The action takes place in the McIntosh home, a middle class African American family of four in Kansas City, MO. Kenneth; the head of the household in his late fifties is suffering from early onset Alzheimer’s disease. It is a difficult reality for him to accept. When his mind is on the joy he has for life it’s evident and heart warming, but when he looses himself our heart breaks for the man that he was and wants to be again but can’t. Kenneth’s love for football has always been his solid hold on reality, but soon even the love of the game is fighting against him. This harsh reality is even more difficult for his wife Karen who wants nothing more than to help the man she has only known to be independent accept that he cannot be that man anymore. Karen continues to work on keeping her husband’s mind as present as she can while also being pulled into the sadness of her son, Michael and his addiction to crack. Michael has gone from the top of the mountain to sinking into the deepest part of the valley without the hope of recovery. He yearns for the freedom he had when he was clean, but like his father it is only a memory and one that he can no longer reach. Their daughter Sharon presents herself as the perfect child while hiding behind the loss of a child and her husband that has left her to grieve alone. Sharon tries to assist to keep her mother balanced; her father strong and as independent as possible, but Michael is on a downward spiral and unintentionally taking the family with him. He loves his family but the addiction has a hold on his soul. The theme of the play is the ability to wrap our minds and hearts around people that we love who are sick. Realizing that some sicknesses are chosen and others are not, they are still sick and still hold a piece of our hearts. As Kenneth forgets, Michael tries to balance on the edge, Sharon fights to find her footing after her personal loss and Karen tries to hold all of the pieces of her life together, life still continues to happen, to all of them. Sometimes it is what we are willing to live without for the sake of moving forward that makes the next breath possible.