One of our most treasured theatre stars, Ellie Smith returns home this November with her uplifting and poignant new one-woman show, Life on a Loop, a heartfelt exploration of dementia, love and care. Straight off the back of a return London season during World Alzheimer’s Month at Golden Goose Theatre, Life on a Loop lands at Q Theatre from 11 – 16 November, marking Smith’s first Aotearoa stage performance in over 15 years.
For Grace, Christmas Day is just like any other – filled with the same songs and stories playing on a relentless loop, echoing the rhythms of the dementia and elderly residents she cares for. After thirty years in a rest home, the repetition can wear her down, but Grace still turns up with spark, energy, and a glint in her eye. In Life on a Loop, Ellie Smith’s vibrant one-woman show, we meet this exhausted but fiercely likeable carer who finds joy, absurdity, and real connection in the monotony. With cracking humour, this show is a deeply moving and refreshingly honest look at the toll of caregiving, and the unexpected beauty found in life on repeat.
Smith brings this world to life with seven central characters and a chorus of vivid personalities, each painted with detail and care. Directed by acclaimed theatre-maker Jesse Peach, Life on a Loop features a score by Victor Chaga (whose film credits include Music Editor of Back to Black), adding a surreal atmosphere to Grace’s world. The production is anchored by set design from award-winning theatre designer and artist John Parker, whose design captures the intimate setting of a care home at Christmas.
Having spent time singing in care homes in the south of England, Ellie Smith became close to many of the residents and experienced first-hand the isolation many of them faced. “My time with them gave me such pleasure,” she reflects. “And while there was sadness, it was often balanced by joy and fun. I’ve woven a lot of the residents’ words into the characters of this play and hopefully found a lot of humour in something that can be so serious.”
Ellie Smith is one of Aotearoa’s most respected stage actors, known for starring roles in Shirley Valentine, Piaf, and Auckland Theatre Company’s End of the Rainbow. She was one of New Zealand’s original Lotto presenters and received the NZ Order of Merit in 2004 for services to theatre. Life on a Loop is her first New Zealand stage appearance since Ruben Guthrie (Silo Theatre, 2009).
Life on a Loop plays
11 – 16 November
Q Theatre, Rangatira
Booking via Q Theatre
