'Broken Open' premieres to sold-out audience at Alzheimers Coachella Valley in Palm Desert

Pamela Bieri

Special to The Desert Sun

Alden West as Mami and Gina Tleel as Bella engage in a difficult conversation in which Bella tries to unlock a family secret from Mami who has Alzheimer’s in "Broken Open," a new play that premiered in Palm Desert on Friday, March 6, 2020.

It was not your typical fundraiser: A powerful one-act play about a woman trying desperately to unlock a family secret from her mother whose dementia has progressed enough to elude her recent memory — but not her painful past. “Mami,” played by Alden West, has buried the secret under lies and evasions she no longer remembers inventing.

“Bella,” played by Gina Tleel, re-enacts the difficult, angst-producing conversation with Mami in this real-life drama, which, in fact, was too real for many of us who have had those circuitous, frustrating conversations with loved ones suffering dementia.

But that was the point.

Playwright Isabelle Sarfati talks about her play “Broken Open,” following the recent premiere performance at UCR Palm Desert while Alzheimers Coachella Valley (ACV) board members Pat Kaplan and Dom Calvano, president, listen in. The play was a highlight of ACV’s fundraising event.

In her first play, Isabelle Sarfati brings us to the edge of the abyss and yet gives us a glimmer that her mother is still “in there,” able to rise to the surface, lucid long enough to tell her story.

Alzheimers Coachella Valley (ACV) took a risk in producing “Broken Open” as a highlight of its annual major fundraiser on Friday, March 6 at the UCR Palm Desert auditorium. The event sold out and brought an audience who dared to learn more about an uncomfortable topic.

The play was directed by June August, longtime writer, director, actor and composer. The set — a café table and chairs and the front of a small car with a café and beach screen backdrop — depicted an afternoon on the Israeli coast when Sarfati confronted her mother about her past. Toby Griffin designed the set with sound and lighting by Geoff Allan.

Before the play began, ACV Board President Dom Calvano and co-founder Pat Kaplan presented a “day in the life” video starring Glenna Hal , whose husband, Larry, is diagnosed with Alzheimers. They are members of ACV’s “Club Journey,” a social-interactive program, and have benefited from several of ACV’s services. In a heartfelt moment, Hal said, “I don’t know what we’d do without these programs.”

KESQ news anchor Tom Tucker took the stage to conduct the giving opportunity, raising some $30,000 from the audience and prior donations. Tucker then introduced Dr. Howard Cohen, medical director for Family Hospice Care, also an award winning actor, who spoke about his dual careers and the impact of storytelling before introducing the play.

The event also honored the late Chuck Olsen, lead support group facilitator for ACV who retired from a 45-year career in theater as a prop director.

Attendees included Mary Willis, event chair, with her husband, Charlie Yoshioka; ACV board members Deirdre Floyd, BJ Worzack, Pat Riley, Judy Rhodes and Edwina Dirk and volunteers Joanie Schulman, Susan Maderick, Candace Groberman, Marylou Sullivan, Maryann Soran and Priscilla Kubas.

Sarfati’s guests included Lorraine Carlson, Tom Lowe, Jeanie Cunningham, Alondra Tapia, Janel Pickard, Byron Ibarra, David Saxe, Richard Marlow, Pilar Amaral, Adina Lawson, Kelly Musson and Laura Summa.

Also present were Janet Harris, Mandy Calvano, Donald Beck, Anita Rufus, Rupert MacNee, Ian and Gail Cawthorne, Shirley and Dale Moll, Dorothy Peterson, Ria Dewar, Jim and Betty Ebzery, Carol Reed, Diana McGinity, Tim and Pam Chanter and Barbara and Renae Carpenter.

Pamela Bieri is a longtime Coachella Valley freelance writer as well as a marketing, media relations and development consultant for several nonprofits, including Alzheimers Coachella Valley. She also volunteers for various programs at ACV each week.