A dark night, an old waiting room and two supposed strangers eager to reach their destinations. In the cold hours that rest between nightfall and daybreak, silent questions prompt unexpected revelations. Two souls share a passion for reform; only one has been honoured – Florence Nightingale.The other, Dr Barry, would never receive the same acclaim, but notoriety would come after death and for a very different reason….

Sebastian Barry was born in Dublin in 1955. His plays include The Pentagonal Dream, Boss Grady’s Boys, Prayers of Sherkin, White Woman Street, the award winning The Steward of Christendom which was directed by Max Stafford-Clark at the Royal Court in 1995, The Only True History of Lizzie Finn, and Our Lady of Sligo and Hinterland, both directed by Max Stafford-Clark at the National Theatre in 1998 and 2002 respectively. His translation of Lorca’s The House of Bernada Alba was staged by the Abbey Theatre in 2003.

Robert Delamere’s work includes The Modernists for Sheffield Crucible, In Arabia We’d All Be Kings for Hampstead Theatre, Accidental Death of An Anarchist at the Donmar Warehouse, A Russian in the Woods for the RSC and The Force of Change for the Royal Court. As Associate Director of The Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatre his productions included Popcorn, Les Liasons Dangereuses and The Playboy of the Western World. His other work includes In a Little World of our Own for the Donmar Warehouse, What the Butler Saw and Tartuffe for the Royal Exchange Theatre and The Crucible and Jane Eyre for the Sheffield Crucible.