'If she hadn't died – if you had got to Italy – would you have married her for real?' 

It's the week leading up to Kate and Geoff's wedding anniversary, and preparations for the party are in full swing. As they choose the music for their first dance, a letter from Switzerland arrives and quietly shatters their world.

Buried for decades, the body of a young woman has been found in the melting ice. Is the past another country, or is it just beneath the surface?

45 Years is an achingly tense, intimate and moving play, adapted by Hannah Patterson from Andrew Haigh's critically acclaimed film, itself based on a short story by David Constantine. The play was first performed in the Minerva Theatre at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2026, directed by Prasanna Puwanarajah, with a cast including Gabriel Byrne and Geraldine James.

'Commanding, contemplative… supremely intelligent and moving' Guardian on Andrew Haigh's film



Andrew Haigh is a filmmaker whose other work includes Weekend, Looking, Lean on Pete and All of Us Strangers. Hannah Patterson's other plays include Eden and Playing with Grown Ups, which was nominated for an OffWestEnd Award and the Susan Smith Blackburn Award.



'A quiet and delicate thing... Hannah Patterson adapts with such spare, evocative economy... a lovely theatrical chamber piece with a gem-like delicacy'



'Elegant, striking and understated'



'A captivating and taut drama of understated intensity... a wonderfully uncluttered and nuanced examination of marriage and how memories and events before the couple had even met, shape and impact their relationship... heartbreaking'



'A tight, tense study of domestic discomfort... Hannah Patterson's faithful adaptation breaks the piece into terse vignettes, each sketching in some detail of the richly drawn characters' strained relationships... completely engaging'



'An understated and moving piece of theatre which touched me viscerally... Hannah Patterson's skilful adaptation... a poignant thought-provoking play, beautifully written and performed... it will move you at a profound level'



'Intensely involving... this play will stay with you for a long time'