Olwen Fouere on caring for her terminally ill husband: 'He can barely move, he can't tell that leg to step. He has no control over his bodily functions anymore. I have to feed him'

"This year, Olwen and her husband, David Heap, announced he had been diagnosed with corticobasal syndrome. It is incurable"

"The role of The Shee in ­Marina Carr's new play The Boy came to actress Olwen Fouéré at a time when she was turning down most ­theatre work."

""I don't know if you've read about my partner being very ill," she says to me. We're sitting in a small room within a rehearsal space at the Liberties' Digital Hub. "I'd been offered three or four different plays in England and here, and I just turned them all down because I thought I can't take that time out unless I absolutely, absolutely have to do that show.""

Olwen Fouéré took the role of The Shee in Marina Carr's play The Boy at a moment when she was declining most theatre work. Her husband, David Heap, received a diagnosis of corticobasal syndrome this year, a progressive and incurable condition. She was offered several plays in England and locally but turned them down to avoid extended time away from her partner. Rehearsals occurred in a small room at the Liberties' Digital Hub. The combination of a demanding role and intense caregiving responsibilities shaped her professional choices and availability.

Read at Independent