An uplifting, bittersweet drama set in a nursing home, celebrating friendship and the human spirit.

A nursing-home conservatory. Sean sits alone, abandoned to his memories. In storms Patricia, a feisty woman with a zest for life and for handsome men in wheelchairs. A wary intimacy develops between the two, an unforeseen relationship, by turns charming and combative, tender and funny.

Infused with wry humour and humanity, Deirdre Kinahan's play Halcyon Days is a celebration of our quest for meaning in even the most seemingly hopeless of circumstances.

It was first performed in preview at the Solstice Arts Centre, Co. Meath, Ireland, in October 2012. The production received its Irish premiere at Smock Alley Theatre as part of the Dublin Theatre Festival, also in October 2012.

The production was revived under a new title, These Halcyon Days, at Assembly Hall, Edinburgh, in August 2013 as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it won a Fringe First Award.

Halcyon Days was developed and expanded from Kinahan's earlier short play, Salad Day, which received a reading at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in 2009.



Deirdre Kinahan is a Dublin-based playwright and theatre producer who founded and runs the production company Tall Tales. Her work is regularly performed internationally and includes the critically acclaimed Moment, Bogboy and Hue & Cry.



'A touching drama... what distinguishes Kinahan's play - what gives it its pulse - is its finely-drawn characters'



'Straightforwardly honest and touching... there's a wonderful balance between humour and poignancy here, and even within the humour, a rich blend of both unintentional hilarity and insightful wit'