YORK actress Libby Wattis explores the effect of Alzheimer’s Disease on a professional woman and her family in her solo show The Cleverest Thief at The Fleeting Arms, Gillygate, York, on Thursday.

Written for Libby by Caroline Coxon and directed by Paul David Ratcliffe, her poignant portrayal of Florence's decent into dementia lasts just under an hour.

The play takes its title from a quote by Salt Lake City author and slogan writer Jarod Kintz, who says: “Alzheimer’s is the cleverest thief. She not only steals from you, she steals the very thing that you need to remember what has been stolen”.

Libby is a professional actress and a member of both the York Settlement Community Players and the York Shakespeare Project. She appeared in the 2012 York Mystery Plays in the Museum Gardens and played Joan of Gaunt in YSP's Richard II and Laura in Piggyback Theatre's production of Par For The Course.

The 7.30pm performance is a Pay What You Choose event from which all money raised after expenses will be divided between three dementia charities: the Alzheimer’s Society, Dementia UK and Alzheimer’s Research.