IMMENSE YEAR: THE MUSICAL
Dementia isn’t easy, but it’s often funny, messy, and full of unexpected moments - and that’s exactly the story Immense Year tells.
About Immense Year
It’s a warm, truthfully funny musical that offers an uplifting perspective on dementia - not by pretending it’s easy, but by noticing the humour alongside the tenderness and the harder moments.
When ninety-year-old Cece realises her memory is slipping, she refuses to go quietly. She jokes, pushes back, and clings fiercely to her independence. Some days this defiance looks like courage; on others, like denial. Either way, it makes life and love more complicated for everyone around her.
For her daughter Jane, who has spent a lifetime trying and failing to understand her mother, Cece’s struggle brings both connection and conflict. Moments of startling honesty and humour sit alongside frustration, fear, and the practical fallout of a mother determined not to be managed. Jane must confront not only the changing reality of her mother, but also her own instinct to control, protect, and fix.
Themes and Tone
So much storytelling around dementia focuses on decline and despair. Immense Year takes a different path. The musical shows how specialist care, patience, and love can transform the journey of someone living with dementia. It also observes the pressures faced by health professionals and carers alike.
As Jane navigates an overstretched care system, nurses juggling the impossible, and the endless decisions that come with loving someone who is changing before her eyes, the musical gently challenges the assumption that memory is the most important measure of a life, asking instead what happens when the living in the now, safe connections, and loving feelings are given greater value.
Blending music, comedy, and moments of emotional truth, Immense Year explores connection, forgiveness, and the fragile balance between holding on and letting go.
Where the Work is Now
Immense Years is currently in development. Here you’ll find songs written so far, a summary of the musical, and an outline of what’s needed next to bring the work further into the world.
My progress is shared openly. Like my dementia experience, I am sharing my development of my musical that I hope will build understanding and make a real difference while we wait for better medical intervention or a cure.
