Every Third Minute, West Yorkshire Playhouse

According to Alzheimer.org, there are 850,000 people with dementia in the UK, with numbers set to rise to over 1 million by 2025. This will soar to 2 million by 2051. 225,000 will develop dementia this year, that’s one every three minutes.

That's why Every Third Minute, which runs from 9 February to the end of March, is inspired by the statistic that every third minute someone in the UK is diagnosed with dementia. Hosted by the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, the festival has been described by its organizers as ‘a festival of theatre, dementia, and hope’.

Seventy-one-year-old Bob Fulcher, the festival curator, may have spent his working life as a farmer but he’s proof it’s never too late to make a career change after co-writing his first ever play - eight years after developing dementia. “Being part of this festival gives me a chance to put my message across about how important it is to enjoy life”, he told BBC Breakfast.

“Even though I’ve had dementia for eight years…life’s…life’s great.”

An eclectic programme of performances, conversations, installations, training, and workshops, the festival opens with the brand-new stage adaptation of Lisa Genova’s best-selling novel of Still Alice.

This year will open with a brand new version of Still Alice starring Sharon Small in the Courtyard Theatre, the performance programme, a diverse and far-reaching selection of performances compiled by the festival curators, includes three new plays co-written by people living with dementia paired with professional writers, live music from artist Hannah Peel, a rehearsed reading of Maggie May by award-winning playwright Frances Poet and Spare Tyre’s multi-sensory immersive experience The Garden for people living with dementia and their supporters.

A series of conversations, including a Dementia Wikithon, a session where people living with dementia and their supporters can edit the Wikipedia pages on dementia and related topics, and training and workshops for families, healthcare professionals, and artists, will run alongside the performance programme, with more events and performances to be announced.

West Yorkshire Playhouse runs regular activities for people living with dementia, including Our Time sessions for people living with dementia and their partners, Peer Support Sessions in partnership with other cultural organizations throughout the city, and Dementia Friendly performances. The Playhouse’s innovative approach has been recognized with national awards from the Alzheimer’s Society and National Dementia Care Awards.

Since opening its doors in 1990, the theatre has had a history of creating dementia-friendly plays for people living with dementia and their families and care workers.

Most of the playhouse’s staff are Dementia Friends who make it easier for those with dementia to attend creative sessions and theatre performances. In 2015, the playhouse received two national awards for its dementia-friendly work, namely: Best Dementia Friendly Project 2015 and Outstanding Innovation in Dementia Care 2015.

Nicky Taylor, West Yorkshire Playhouse Theatre's dementia research associate said: “We hear many stories about caring and grieving for people living with dementia, but we rarely hear stories of people’s experiences of actually living with dementia.

"Every Third Minute is about amplifying those voices and changing perceptions and attitudes, through a far-reaching programme that broadens the narrative of dementia.

"Placing people with dementia in decision-making positions we can challenge the more negative expectations and limitations that can arrive hand in hand with a diagnosis, and instead celebrate their potential and creativity.”