Green Room Opens With Humor and Heart

Ma likes her grammar correct and her routines intact. Her daughter Dot needs a sharp sense of humor to get through the day. Between them lies the shifting ground of memory loss—and the difficult work of holding a family together.

Green Room Theatre Company Coachella Valley will open its 18th season November 13 with Last Lists of My Mad Mother, Julie Jensen’s play about caregiving, family friction and the connections that endure as memories fade.

Presented in collaboration with the Alzheimer’s Association, the production runs November 13–22 in Indio and Palm Desert. Don Cilluffo directs Denise Strand as Ma, Katt Atkins as Dot and Rachel Wheeler as Sis.

Dot has put her own life on hold to care for her mother, whose once-orderly world is becoming increasingly confusing. Sis offers advice by telephone from afar, adding another layer to a family dynamic that may feel familiar to anyone who has balanced caregiving responsibilities with a sibling.

The story moves between humor and painful recognition, following a mother and daughter as they revisit familiar territory while their relationship changes. For local families living with dementia, its themes reach well beyond an evening’s entertainment: Who takes responsibility? How does a caregiver keep going? Where can comfort still be found?

The company hopes the collaboration will encourage conversations about those experiences and the people behind them.

“Behind every story is a human connection that deserves to be understood, supported, and celebrated,” founding artistic director David Catanzarite said in the company’s announcement.

Performances November 13–15 will take place at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 45319 Deglet Noor Street, Indio. The production moves to the Regional Access Project Foundation, 41550 Eclectic Street, Palm Desert, November 20–22. American Sign Language interpretation will be provided November 22.

General admission is $25. Opening-night VIP tickets are $45 and include a reception following the November 13 performance, with an opportunity to meet the cast and crew.

Green Room is also supporting the November 21 Walk to End Alzheimer’s and inviting community members to join its team.

Tickets, performance times and additional information are available at [grtccv.org] (https://grtccv.org).