What the Theatre Taught Me about Alzheimer's (or: The Giraffe in the Hallway Problem)

Elinor Fuchs¹

• ¹Elinor Fuchs, Ph.D., is a theater critic and the author of the Alzheimer's memoir, Making an Exit, which has led to many speaking engagements about dementia, caretaking, and creativity. She is the author of four other books, including The Death of Character, winner of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism. Her documentary play, "Year One of the Empire," co-authored with feminist historian Joyce Antler, won the Drama-Logue "Best Play" award for its Los Angeles premiere. Her scholarly essays have been published in numerous anthologies, reference works, and journals, and her criticism has appeared in the New York Times, the Village Voice, and American Theatre. She is Professor Emerita of Drama-turgy and Dramatic Criticism at the Yale School of Drama, and has also taught theater and drama at Harvard, Columbia University, Emory University, and the Free University of Berlin. She holds a B.A. from Radcliffe College and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.