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Before I Forget – A Moving Story of Family, Dementia and the Bonds Between Three Generations
Dementia is brutal. Uncaring and dispassionate in its work, it slowly unravels a lifetime of learning, knowledge and achievement, taking with it memories, independence and the person you have always known.
Before I Forget, now playing at Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio, tells the story of three generations of Aboriginal women navigating the realities of dementia, family responsibility and the difficult decisions that come with losing someone long before they are gone.
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The story begins with Faith (Roxanne McDonald) returning home to a locked door and lost keys. A proud and accomplished Badtjala woman, Faith is an academic, linguist and activist who has spent her life on her own terms. She has travelled, studied, and played an important role in preserving and rebuilding her people’s language. Now, dementia is beginning to take hold.
Her daughter Karma (Melodie Reynolds-Diarra) is strong because she has little choice. A little abrasive around the edges, she is doing her best to navigate an impossible situation, balancing her mother’s needs with an increasingly impersonal aged-care system and the financial realities of finding suitable care. Selling the family home becomes part of the difficult process of securing her mother’s future.
Then there is granddaughter Hope (Tyallah Bullock), still young and lighter in spirit, but dealing with her own personal struggles. She loves her grandmother and wants to stay with her, finding it difficult to accept that things are changing. Karma loves her daughter but understands the realities of dementia and what lies ahead in a way that Hope is not yet ready to face.
Their story unfolds in a simple country home, where the Seven Sisters shine down at night and birdsong greets them in the morning. The setting feels familiar, but with each restless night, we see further signs of Faith’s deterioration. Conversations become fragmented, memories slip, and the distance between the women grows.
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The three performances bring different perspectives to the story. Faith’s fierce independence and moments of confusion sit alongside Karma’s frustration and exhaustion, while Hope brings a younger perspective, holding onto the connection she shares with her grandmother. Their relationships are complicated, full of love, old wounds, humour and things left unsaid.
The staging is simple but effective. Two beds, a couch, a table, a stove, a for-sale sign and a well-used portable fire pit create the family home. Nothing feels excessive, allowing the focus to remain on the women and the conversations taking place around them.
Written and directed by Kamarra Bell-Wykes, Before I Forget draws loosely on her own family history and the life of her mother, Jeanie Bell, a prominent Aboriginal linguist and academic who played an important role in language reclamation. While the story is fictionalised, there is a strong sense of personal history and cultural significance woven through it.
There are moments of humour amongst the sadness, and it is this combination that makes the story feel particularly real. The play doesn’t shy away from the frustration, grief and uncomfortable decisions that families can face when dementia enters their lives.
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Before I Forget is multilayered and bittersweet. It is about more than losing memories. It is about mothers and daughters, cultural identity, family history, forgiveness and the things we wish we had said while there was still time.
It is also a reminder to have the difficult conversations sooner, get your affairs in order and not leave the important things unsaid. Because sometimes the opportunity to ask questions, make amends or simply say what needs to be said doesn’t last forever.
Before I Forget
24 Oct — 28 Nov 2026
Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio
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Content warnings: Contains theatrical smoke and haze, coarse language, and themes of dementia, death, domestic and colonial violence. Includes photographs and audio recordings of deceased people (First Nations audiences).
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