Set in a nursing home in Ireland, Dierdre Khan’s These Halcyon Days is a heart-warming play which explores both the woes and joys of old age. Leading actors Anita Reeves and Stephen Brennan play Sean and Patricia, an unlikely duo who form a loving companionship, but one which is not devoid of odd hiccups, fallouts and ever-entertaining frustration. As retired teacher Patricia pushes Sean to make the most out of life the play really takes off and they eventually part as happier individuals - unrequited kisses and smashed window panes aside.
Reeves and Brennan both act masterfully throughout the play. Sean’s consistently present shakes are extremely convincing and his initial disillusionment makes him very endearing, also sometimes very amusing. Well timed facial expressions of scepticism and dismay also work brilliantly against Patricia’s loud and brash character. It is Reeves, though, who drives the play and makes it feel far more like a comedy, forcing what is really a non-plot forwards. She is jubilant when she finally allows herself to relax, and the stage lights up with her.
Most impressive, however, is the way in which Reeves and Brennan prevent a somewhat static play from falling into inevitable lulls. There is no real sense of plot: Sean and Patricia are sat inside a very basic, grey conservatory for the entire play - it seems as though things are going to get dull quickly. Reeves and Brennan allow their characters to develop ever so subtly through even the most frivolous of conversations, however, and it is this which makes them so consistently interesting. Their relationship feels very real, and if anything, we wish to witness them developing their friendship even more at the end of the play, rather than parting in such an anticlimactic way. Although the play fizzles out towards the end, this is still a charming and moving production and it’s well worth a watch.
