Alzheimer’s and alcoholism, oh my. You wouldn’t think the subjects would provide fertile ground for humor, but playwright Jake Brasch attempts exactly that with his sitcom-style dark comedy receiving its New York premiere at the Atlantic Theater Company. Depicting the efforts of a young alcoholic wrestling with his demons while attempting to prevent his beloved grandparents from lapsing into dementia, The Reservoir is like spending time with someone suffering from a serious problem who insists on constantly making jokes. You appreciate the effort at lightheartedness but desperately wish they would stop avoiding the real issues.
To be fair, the play does have its moving moments, especially in its touching last scene that will deeply resonate with anyone who’s lost someone to dementia. But over the course of its overlong two-and-a-quarter hours, it mostly engages in the sort of cutesiness that detracts from rather than enhances its message. Old folks, aren’t they adorable!
Upon entering the theater, we see a young man lying motionless on the stage. He’s Josh (Noah Galvin, Theater Camp), a gay NYU student on medical leave who wakes up near a reservoir in his hometown of Denver without any memory of how he got there or what caused the large gash on his arm. His mother Patricia (Heidi Armbruster) loves her son desperately, but is clearly at her wit’s end as to what to do with him except to repeatedly submit him to breathalyzer tests.
Josh soon discovers that his beloved maternal grandmother Irene (Mary Beth Peil) is now in assisted living suffering from the advanced stages of dementia. While visiting her, she bursts into an impromptu rendition of “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful” (which at least provides the nice opportunity for us to be treated to Peil’s still lovely soprano voice).
Irene’s husband Hank (Peter Maloney) lovingly attends to her while retreating into grumpiness. Josh’s paternal grandfather, who refers to himself as Shrimpy (Chip Zien), is mainly concerned with preparing for his upcoming second bar mitzvah, which provides lots of opportunities for the sex-obsessed octogenarian to make jokes about puberty. Josh’s grandmother Beverly (Caroline Aaron) is a firecracker, inviting Josh to join her for a jazzercise class.
Josh attempts to get his life back together and secures a low-paying job at a bookstore, where his manager (Matthew Saldivar) becomes impatient with his inattention to his duties. Instead, Josh spends most of his time in the self-help and medical sections of the store, reading up on his own condition and how to slow down mental decline. As much to save himself as them, he puts his grandparents on a regimen that includes eating massive amounts of spinach to overcome a “thiamine deficiency.”
Throughout the evening, the four elderly grandparents serve as a sort of comic Greek chorus, observing and commenting on Josh’s actions while occasionally engaging in such activities as miming a wave (don’t ask). At one point, a tragic event causes Josh to relapse, and he forms an unexpected bond with one of them who reveals that they share his condition.
The Reservoir suffers from both its excessive jokiness and overfamiliarity, redeemed mainly by Shelley Butler’s clever staging and the performances of its ensemble. Galvin expertly handles both the comedic and tragic aspects of his character and Armbruster and Saldivar do fine work in numerous roles. But it’s the four old pros onstage who truly shine, with Aaron stealing the show as the sardonic Beverly who’s younger than her years. Unfortunately, those veteran performers are not playing characters so much as archetypes in a play that purports to deal with serious issues but never gets beneath the surface.
The Reservoir opened February 24, 2026 at the Linda Gross Theater and runs through March 15. Tickets and information: atlantictheater.org
