Twenty-Twenty is a ninety-minute play by Paddy Gormley on the theme of love and loss.

“The plot was a delightful jigsaw puzzle
that came together before us.
Random scenes that were difficult to thread together
coalesced to a wonderfully complete vision.”
(feedback from the Bridewell Theatre reading, February 2002)

Alec, teacher and failed composer, returning from his father's funeral, reflects on his own life, consumed with self-hatred and bitterness and tormented by the past.

The ghosts of three former lovers, Belinda (1960), Natasha (1980) and Lucy (2000) return to haunt him, forcing him to confront the deep, dark secrets that have shaped his life so cruelly.

Twenty-Twenty has undergone significant development with the help of three rehearsed readings, Bridewell Theatre 2002 and Actors and Writers London (2001& 2005), starring Rosalind Adler and Peter Luke Kenny and directed by Kirsty Bennett. The feedback from the audience of theatre professionals at these readings suggests that this is a project with significant potential as both stage play and film.

The play is essentially a two-hander (man & woman), with incidental parts for a third (male) actor. The three women, all aged 40, are played by the same actress. The male lead is ostensibly 60, but also appears aged 40 and 20.

Twenty-Twenty is written in proseverse, a style of writing pioneered by Paddy Gormley since 1995. The text is designed to sound like normal prose, but the language of the play is heightened by the use of subtle rhythmic patterns and hidden rhymes.