Small Wonder

Television star Sharon Small on her key role in a pioneering new Leeds theatre festival

- Jo Haywood

Twenty minutes is not very long. You could, at a pinch, watch about a third of an episode of Downton Abbey, jog a couple of miles or make ten Pot Noodles (although we would strongly advise against doing any of them). It’s a fleeting, seemingly inconsequential, amount of time. But, for theatre and television actress Sharon Small, it’s crucial she manages to cram a lot in. 

Most notably, a sandwich.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she says, during a very short break in rehearsals at West Yorkshire Playhouse.

‘If I sound a bit muffled, it’s because I’m stuffing in a sandwich. It’s not very glamorous, I know, but needs must.’

She has just 20 minutes to have lunch, catch her breath after a physically and emotionally strenuous morning and talk to Yorkshire Life about her starring role in Still Alice, the flagship production in a groundbreaking new festival – a festival which gives an extra dimension of poignancy to the transient time we’re sharing.

Every Third Minute is ‘a festival of theatre, dementia and hope’; its title referring to the startling fact that every third minute in the UK someone will begin living with dementia.

The festival, which runs at the Playhouse in Leeds until March 31st, is the first of its kind, created by people living with dementia and exploring new ways of approaching the condition with compassion, confidence, hope and fleeting but crucial moments of joy.

‘I don’t want people to think for a moment that it’s all doom and gloom,’ says Sharon. ‘There are some very positive messages. The festival is packed with shows showing different aspects of living with dementia. I love its sheer variety, and the way it tells so many different stories.