The White Handkerchief

With a cast of young performers—many the same age as those who were shot on Bloody Sunday on 30th January 1972 —and an ensemble that gives voice to family members, clergy and community, this brand new Millennium Forum in-house revival directed by Kieran Griffiths, doesn’t simply depict history; it asks the audience to inhabit it. The White Handkerchief becomes more than memorial. It becomes a healing space for wounded communities. A reckoning. A call to the living to ask what justice, dignity and truth mean today.

Critics called the original production directed and produced by Kieran Griffiths for The Playhouse in Derry: “potently atmospheric” (The Guardian), “a masterpiece” (Derry Journal) and “a daring commemoration” (The Telegraph). But for those in the room, it was something more: a ritual, a release, a reckoning.

Now remounted to open the 25th anniversary year of the Millennium Forum and central to next year’s Bloody Sunday commemorations, The White Handkerchief continues its powerful journey—not only as an artistic achievement but as a profound act of communal courage.

In a time when the world is witnessing continued cycles of state violence, civilian deaths and long-denied accountability, this musical stands as a reminder: we must remember, we must grieve and we must speak.

"Fr Daly’s white handkerchief wasn’t just a symbol. It carried the essence of the lost—the blood and tears of innocence. It was an act of faith. Of defiance. Of mercy. And now, it’s a song.”

We must remember, we must grieve and we must speak.