Emil Kraepelin is the psychiatrist who, at the beginning of the Twentieth century, identified the condition known as Alzheimer’s disease. However, this is more than just a play about Alzheimer’s; it is a play on the identity of Europe, its historical memory and our relationship with the past. Those suffering from degenerative dementia get people’s names wrong, forget what objects are for, and lose track of the passage of time. In their minds, real details and figments of imagination intermingle and blend in a form of free association that overturns the logical organisation of the world through language. History is divided into a series of variations that are simultaneously true and false; words give way to physical presence, to the detriment of reason and the benefit of imagination. 
It is here that the full potential of theatre is expressed. 
Following on from Ritratto dell’artista da morto and Limited Edition, Davide Carnevali continues to explore the processes that govern narrative, highlighting how History is always a subjective reconstruction of the past, removing anything painful and holding on to more favourable aspects. 
Written in 2008, Variazioni sul modello di Kraepelin was recognised the following year at the Theatertreffen Stückemarkt of Berlin and at the Riccione Theatrical Awards, as well as at the Journées de Lyon des Auteurs de Théâtre in 2012. In recent years it has been translated into a dozen languages and performed in a range of theatres worldwide. It has been published in Italy by Einaudi.