Skylight (play)

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. After opening on Broadway in 1996, it played again in the West End in 1997 at the Vaudeville Theatre. It was revived at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End in 2014, and that production transferred to Broadway in 2015.

Skylight
Faber and Faber first edition
Written byDavid Hare
Date premiered1995
Place premieredCottesloe Theatre
London
Original languageEnglish
SubjectMatters of life, love and circumstance between an older man and a younger woman
GenreDrama
SettingPresent day flat in northwest London

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 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]

The play won the 1996 Laurence Olivier Award for Play of the Year.[5]

On 30 June 1997 the play opened at London's Vaudeville Theatre, with Bill Nighy in his first starring role,[6] and Stella Gonet, directed by Eyre. It ran through 11 October 1997.[2][7]

A new production directed by Stephen Daldry and starring Carey Mulligan, Nighy—reprising the part he had first performed in 1997—and Matthew Beard opened at the Wyndham's Theatre in June 2014.[8] The play was broadcast live (or near-live) to cinema audiences via National Theatre Live (NT Live) on 17 July 2014.[8]

This production transferred to Broadway at the John Golden Theatre on 16 March 2015.[9] The production officially opened on 2 April in a limited engagement to 21 June.[10] The play was nominated for seven 2015 Tony Awards, and won Best Revival of a Play.[11]

On June 10, 2016, Hidden Cove Productions[12] was to open Skylight,[13] starring Sara Topham, Lindsay G. Merrithew and Tim Dowler-Coltman,[14] at the Berkeley Street Theatre in Toronto, Canada. Larry Moss was to direct the four-week run.

The world premiere of Skylight in the Chinese language took stage in the Lyric Theatre in Hong Kong on July 1, 2016. Starring Dayo Wong, Fala Chen and Terrance Lau. Directed by Chan Chu-Hei. Initially scheduled for 24 shows, the show was sold out within a few hours of opening for sale, and due to overwhelming responses, 11 additional shows were added.[15][16][17]

On February 14, 2017, Theatre Calgary[18] was to open Skylight,[19] starring Geoffrey Simon Brown, Dean Paul Gibson and Myla Southward at the Max Bell Theatre in Calgary, Alberta, Valerie Planche directing the two-week run.

On March 26, 2020 Verendus Theatrical was to open Skylight, starring Alicia Zorkovic, Brant Eustice and Jackson Barnard at the Holden Street Theatres in Adelaide, South Australia, Tim Williams directing the two-week run. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic the show was forced to reschedule until January 14, 2021.[20]

Characters

Source: Skylight[2]

  • Tom Sergeant
  • Kyra Hollis
  • Edward Sergeant

Plot

East London school teacher Kyra Hollis is visited by Edward Sergeant and, later on the same night, his father Tom Sergeant. Kyra had been living with the Sergeant 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. 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
  • 1996 Olivier Award for Best Actor (Michael Gambon)[5]
  • 1997 Tony Award for Best Play
  • 1997 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play (Michael Gambon)
  • 1997 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (Lia Williams)
  • 1997 Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play (Richard Eyre)
  • 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play (Michael Gambon)
  • 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play (Lia Williams)
  • 2015 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (Carey Mulligan) [22]
  • 2015 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play (Bill Nighy) [23]
  • 2015 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play (Matthew Beard) [24]
  • 2015 Olivier Award for Best Revival[25]

References
  • Hare, David (1994). Skylight (First ed.). London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-17612-7.
  1. Rosenthal, Daniel. "David Hare" The National Theatre Story (books.google.com), Oberon Books, 2013, ISBN 1849439435, pp. dxxvi–dxxix
  2. Hare, David. Script Skylight (books.google.com), Faber and Faber, 2013 (no page numbers)
  3. " 'Skylight' Listing, 1996" playbillvault.com, accessed 30 March 2015
  4. "Theatre News" Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine whatsonstage.com, 23 May 1997
  5. "Olivier Awards, 1996" olivierawards.com, accessed 30 March 2015
  6. Roslyn Sulcas, "Mulligan and Bill Nighy Prepare ‘Skylight’ for Broadway", The New York Times, 26 February 2015; accessed 13 September 2018
  7. " 'Skylight' at Vaudeville" abouttheartists.com, accessed 30 March 2015
  8. "Skylight review – Hare revival is a Thatcherite play for today" The Observer, 22 June 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
  9. Hetrick, Adam. "Broadway-Bound Skylight, with Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy, Hits U.S. Cinemas Tonight" playbill.com, October 23, 2014
  10. Gioia, Michael. "Passion Reignites in Broadway's Skylight, With Carey Mulligan and Bill Nighy, Opening Tonight" playbill.com, 2 April 2015
  11. Gans, Andrew. "69th Annual Tony Awards Nominations Announced!" Archived 2015-04-28 at Archive.today Playbill.com, April 28, 2015
  12. "Reviews, Press & News – SKYLIGHT in Toronto // SkylightTO". SkylightTO. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  13. "Canadian Stage". Canadian Stage Website. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  14. "Biography". ent-nts.ca. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
  15. "群星捧場 子華法拉舞台劇連環爆粗". Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  16. "黃子華舞台劇加場單丁位照搶 癱瘓售票系統". Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  17. "Dayo Wong and Fala Chen to Star in New Play "Skylight" This Summer". Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  18. "Home: TheatreCalgary". www.theatrecalgary.com. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  19. "Skylight: TheatreCalgary". www.theatrecalgary.com. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  20. "www.holdenstreettheatres.com :: Skylight". holdenstreettheatres.com. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
  21. "Theatre World Award" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine playbill.com, accessed 31 March 2015
  22. "Tony Nominations 2015: Full List". Variety. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
  23. "Tony Nominations 2015: Full List". Variety. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
  24. "Tony Nominations 2015: Full List". Variety. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
  25. "Olivier Awards, 2015" Archived 2015-04-27 at the Wayback Machine olivierawards.com, accessed 30 March 2015
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