RIKA’S ROOMS by Gail Louw at Tabard Theatre, Chiswick 1 – 25 July 2026



‘Wilkinson Wright’s incredible performance holds this complex story together.’ ★★★ ½                 

Some lives are remarkable but Rika, a woman in her 70s struggling with dementia, has had several remarkable lives, if only she can remember them. From childhood refugee fleeing Nazi Germany, to a young woman struggling to fit in at a kibbitz in Palestine in the early 1940s, then to raising a family in Apartheid South Africa. She is forced to grow up quickly and never stays still. But now she finds herself confused in a nursing home in England, struggling to remember who she is and who her loved ones are.

Gail Louw’s script is based on her novel about her own mother’s life. A solo play, Emma Wilkinson Wright is excellent as Rika. Not only does she play Rika at different ages but voices a whole host of characters in the story, from her sister to lovers and her children. The play, especially at the beginning, is driven by Rika’s confused mind so we flit between different time periods in quick succession, before settling into a more linear(ish) story. Shrubsall’s taut direction means that this never becomes confusing. The deceptively simple set means we can go through different eras and are just about able to keep up with Rika’s hyperactive commentary.

With such a full and complicated life, the play sometimes suffers from trying to cover too much ground. The final segment in South Africa, for example, could do with more exploration. But one of the play’s strengths is its unflinching portrayal of dementia and the more extreme manifestations of behaviour that can occur in certain cases; the inappropriate actions and loss of bodily functions. This is juxtaposed with a remarkable and often tragic life. Wilkinson Wright’s incredible performance holds this complex story together.                         

RIKA’S ROOMS written by Gail Louw. Directed by Anthony Shrubsall, Starring Emma Wilkinson-Wright

Produced by Oxia Theatre

Playing at Tabard Theatre, Chiswick 1 - 25 July 2026

BOX OFFICE https://www.tabard.org.uk/production/rikas-rooms

Photography: Paddy Gormley