Skylight (play)

Skylight

Faber & Faber first edition
Written by David Hare
Date premiered 1995
Place premiered Cottesloe Theatre
London
Original language English
Subject Matters of life, love and circumstance between an older man and a younger woman
Genre Drama
Setting Present day flat in Northwest London

Skylight is a play by British dramatist David Hare. The play premiered in the West End at the Cottesloe Theatre in 1995, moving to the Wyndham's Theatre in 1996. The play opened on Broadway in 1996 and again played the West End in 1997 and 2014. The 2014 production transferred to Broadway in 2015.

Productions

Skylight premiered in May 1995 at the Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre, directed by Richard Eyre and starring Michael Gambon and Lia Williams. The production then moved to the Wyndham's Theatre for a short run from 13 February 1996, again with Gambon and Williams.[1][2]

Both actors appeared in the Broadway transfer from September to December 1996. Both earned Tony Award nominations for their performances, as well as Eyre as director and the play as Best Play. The play won the New York Drama Critics' Circle award as Best Foreign Play.[3][4]

On 30 June 1997 the play opened at London's Vaudeville Theatre starring Bill Nighy and Stella Gonet, directed by Eyre, running through 11 October 1997.[2][5]

The play won the 1996 Laurence Olivier Award for Play of the Year. [6]

A new production directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Carey Mulligan, Bill Nighy — reprising the part he'd performed in 1997 — and Matthew Beard opened at the Wyndham's Theatre in June 2014.[7] The play was broadcast live (or near-live) to cinema audiences via NT Live on 17 July 2014.[7] This production transferred to Broadway at the John Golden Theatre on 16 March 2015.[8] The production officially opened on 2 April in a limited engagement to 21 June.[9] The play was nominated for seven 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play.[10]

Characters

Source: Skylight[2]

Plot

East London school teacher Kyra Hollis is visited on the same night by Edward Sargeant and, later, his father Tom Sargeant. Kyra had been living with the Sargeant family years earlier but left after her affair with Tom was discovered by Tom's wife, who has since died. Edward now accuses Kyra of having left him as well, as he saw her as a big sister, and he demands to know why she left his life.

Shortly thereafter, Tom, a wealthy restaurateur, with real life references to Terence Conran, appears unheralded and for no apparent reason. Kyra's less-than-glamorous lifestyle leads him to poke fun at her to the point of insult, accusing her of self-punishment. After Kyra cooks a spaghetti dinner (which the actress cooks on stage), the talk turns to their relationship, and it becomes clear that their chances to be rekindled rest on whether one of them can change preconceived notions of the other.

Awards and nominations

Awards
Nominations

References

  1. ↑ Rosenthal, Daniel. "David Hare" The National Theatre Story (books.google.com), Oberon Books, 2013, ISBN 1849439435, pp.dxxvi-dxxix
  2. 1 2 3 Hare, David. Script Skylight (books.google.com), Faber & Faber, 2013 (no page numbers)
  3. 1 2 " 'Skylight' Listing, 1996" playbillvault.com, accessed 30 March 2015
  4. ↑ "Theatre News" whatsonstage.com, 23 May 1997
  5. ↑ " 'Skylight' at Vaudeville" abouttheartists.com, accessed 30 March 2015
  6. 1 2 3 "Olivier Awards, 1996" olivierawards.com, accessed 30 March 2015
  7. 1 2 " 'Skylight' review – Hare revival is a Thatcherite play for today" The Observer, 22 June 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Hetrick, Adam. "Broadway-Bound 'Skylight', with Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy, Hits U.S. Cinemas Tonight" playbill.com, October 23, 2014
  9. ↑ Gioia, Michael. "Passion Reignites in Broadway's 'Skylight', With Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy, Opening Tonight" playbill.com, 2 April 2015
  10. ↑ Gans, Andrew. "69th Annual Tony Awards Nominations Announced!" Playbill.com, April 28, 2015
  11. ↑ "Theatre World Award" playbill.com, accessed 31 March 2015
  12. ↑ "Olivier Awards, 2015" olivierawards.com, accessed 30 March 2015

External links

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