browse archives
×
description
These Halcyon Days is a new Irish play about hope. About the capacity of the human sprit to punch through adversity and find the joy in life, the love in life. It features magnificent performances from two of Ireland’s best: Anita Reeves and Stephen Brennan and is guaranteed to make you laugh in the face of abandonment and the frailty of old age.
I wrote this play to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of the most ordinary people. In Patricia I wanted to celebrate my Mother’s generation. An amazing body of women who broke through a deeply conservative Ireland to bring us liberation; the right to work, divorce, contraception and equality. I wanted to show them in all their courage, vanity, vulnerability, hurt and laughter. To say ‘Thanks, you are not forgotten. We cherish, respect and love you’. And what better gift to Patricia than Sean. Sean’s journey is inspired by my own Uncle’s experience of dementia. I remember being struck initially by the apparent rapid demise of this man I knew and loved, but then on the occasional visit all his dignity, humour, intellect and generosity shone on. I realised that Sean was still Sean and that the truth is so long as you have a heart thumping and blood coursing through your veins, you are still capable of love, of happiness and of future. This life is for living, even at the eleventh hour.
We are extremely lucky to have a terrific creative team working on These Halcyon Days. David Horan, one of the most talented directors of new writing in Ireland, is joined by the fabulous Maree Kearns on design and equally fabulous Kevin Smith on lighting and magnificent Trevor Knight on music.
Huge support from Landmark Productions, Arts Council, Culture Ireland, Meath County Council, Irish Arts Center (NYC) and Solstice, allow us play in New York and across Ireland - Dublin, Monaghan, Sligo, Galway, Navan, Limerick,Tallaght, Carlow, Bray and Cork.
We have also been invited to the Edinburgh Fringe but face a significant shortfall in revenue here. The current gap is €15,000, and we hope to raise €10,000 of that through Fund it.
We know it’s a big ask, but Edinburgh is one of the biggest festivals in the world. It is an electric showcase and a huge opportunity for any writer. Producers from all over the world come here and, as a playwright, the kind of exposure and networking opportunity available is not only hugely valuable to me but provides for the promotion of new Irish drama in general. We hope to be part of a very strong Irish delegation which shows the world that, despite economic woes, the Irish imagination proves indomitable. We continue to dream.
We hope our fantastic rewards will encourage you to support the production. We are hugely grateful for any help that you can give, and promise to do our best to bring a Halcyon Day to every stage, town and city that we are privileged to visit!
With Huge Thanks,
Deirdre Kinahan.
