I Cannot Place You: Dementia and the Pandemic Experience in The Visiting Hour by Frank McGuinness

Abstract

This paper presents a new play by Frank McGuinness, a play which was streamed to audiences in April 2021 and published a few weeks later. Set in contemporary Ireland, it focuses on two themes which seem to preoccupy its author: dementia, to which he devoted another play, Hanging Gardens and the consequences of living in a time of Pandemic. In particular, I argue, McGuinness indirectly seems to address an important question: how can literature and theatre offer an opportunity for reflecting about what is happening around us? Can literature help us to better understand and face the world? The play foregrounds the restorative power of emotional authenticity as we see a father and his daughter struggle over forgetfulness.