When the past trickles away with 'The Memory of Water'

THE fallibility of memory is one of the themes of Shelagh Stephenson’s play, The Memory of Water, which opens at Cork’s Everyman Theatre this evening and runs until Nov 23. This Theatre Royal production, directed by artistic director, Ben Barnes, is about three sisters on the eve of their mother’s funeral.

A reunion for a parent’s death is a much-used set-up, to generate friction and misunderstandings. In The Memory of Water, the charged atmosphere is mirrored by the bad weather, which prevents the women from venturing out.

Mary, a doctor, is the middle sister and interacts with her mother’s ghost. Teresa, the eldest sister, runs a health-food supplement store with her husband, Frank. She was responsible for the care of their mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease.