Exciting new work dissecting the thirty-something preoccupation with status



Very much a play of our times, The Grown-Ups is a gripping examination of the way we live now and the thirty-something preoccupation with status, materialism and what it really means to be a 'grown-up' in contemporary Ireland. 'You've no money, no career, no substance. You're renting these days, people think there's something wrong with you.' Alan and Nicola are a couple desperate to keep pace with the boom time. However, when Alan's sister Amy is involved in a scandal, Alan finds himself questioning his values and wondering if success can truly be measured by money, ambition and material gain. The Grown-Ups is a modern-day thriller that has at its heart the malaise of a society 'seduced by extravagance'.The play received its world premiere at the Abbey Theatre's Peacock Theatre, Dublin, on 10 February 2006.

Nicholas Kelly's most recent work The Harmony Suite, a site-specific documentary play commissioned b y Collective Encounters, Liverpool, was performed in September 2005. Other stage plays include A Qui et Life (commissioned by the Abbey Outreach Department and performed at the Peacock Theatre, 2000), The Great Jubilee (Y2K Festival, Fishamble, 2000), Shapeshifters (TEAM Theatre Company, 1999), Unite d Colours of Domino (Dublin Youth Theatre, 1998) and The Future is Betamax (Young Writers' Festival, Royal Court, London, 1996). Radio plays include The Black Rider and Blameless (RTE). He received th e P J O'Connor Award for Blameless in 1996. Nicholas was Playwright-in-Residence at Project Arts Cen tre, Dublin, from 2001 to 2003.