A moving look at politics and love in the emotionally charged revival of David Hare’s Skylight.First seen at the Royal National Theatre back in 1995, with Michael Gambon starring as the rich restaurateur Tom Sergeant, and then a further West End run with the current lead actor Bill Nighy at the Vaudeville Theatre, this psychologically detailed family drama about grief, love and social inequality is given an emotionally charged revival by director Stephen Daldry. What makes the production so relevant this time around is the detailed observation of the conflicting values that stem from outrageous economic imbalance within our society. The gap between the rich and poor has never been so wide and this play shoots straight at the heart of this inequity.
Skylight deals with two ex-lovers, Tom Sergeant (Bill Nighy) and Kyra Hollis (Carey Mulligan), who are tied together by a shared past of love and intimacy, but split apart by their hugely differing financial circumstances and consequent social attitudes. The play is set within Kyra’s freezing London flat in Kensal Rise. Although poor, Kyra feels fulfillment working as a teacher in a difficult school in East Ham. Tom, on the other hand, may be rich and successful, but is tormented by the guilt of his affair with Kyra and grief-stricken by the death of his wife from cancer a year ago.
The easy option would be for Hare to side with Kyra’s social conscience over Tom’s egotistical contempt for the poor. However, Hare goes for the more difficult but ultimately more rewarding angle of exploring both sides of this complex argument. Kyra seems to take the moral high ground while coming across as sanctimonious in her defence of living on the breadline. Whereas, Tom is weak and emotionally needy despite being financially well-off.
What elevates Skylight into the realm of modern classics is the interconnection between politics and passion. The dramatic human story of the two lovers is never lost to the didactic political messages present in the play and vice versa. The pair are socially at different ends of the spectrum yet still listen to each other’s views and are changed or affected by them.
The leading cast of Nighy and Mulligan are spellbinding in their fully-inhabited characters, complete with expertly judged moments of heartbreaking tenderness or concealed private pain
The leading cast of Nighy and Mulligan are spellbinding in their fully-inhabited characters, complete with expertly judged moments of heartbreaking tenderness or concealed private pain. Nighy, as expected, is vocally nimble and emotionally dexterous. He gives Tom a panicked, volatile edge that suggests a man churning with internal conflict, split between animalistic impulses and rational thought.
Mulligan makes her West End stage debut, but you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise. She gives Kyra a steely resolve and a measured charm, but is more than a match for Tom’s emotional outbursts when she turns on him in the most startlingly explosive moment.
Stephen Daldry’s sensitive direction has brought out the minute detail in Hare’s articulate dialogue and he has handled the rises and falls of the play’s narrative with orchestral precision. Every still moment or pained silence sparkles with dramatic energy and are never left to go flat.
Bob Crowley’s imposing tower-block set places the social world of the play firmly front and centre. The backdrop of endless chipped doors and dirty windows is a constant reminder of the grim reality that all the postulating ideas on poverty are really getting at. The intimate setting of Wyndham’s Theatre is made remote and daunting by the striking tower-block. However, to keep the action on stage personal, Crowley has brought the setting of Kyra’s flat almost to the edge of the stage.
Skylight packs both a political and emotional punch that is designed to kick the audience into seeing the realities of the world around them.
Skylight packs both a political and emotional punch that is designed to kick the audience into seeing the realities of the world around them, but it never losses sight of the human connection that drives the story. A play that puts our separated society under the microscope has never been more important than right now. See it.
You would think that after being on the West End for over a year the buzz about The Book of Mormon would have died down a bit. No one expected it to disappear entirely, but equally no one expected it to still be the hottest ticket in town. Well, one of the hottest. After all, Miss Saigon has just opened to record-breaking sales with £4.4m in one day vs. £2.1m for Mormon. But still, on a sunny Wednesday evening in June I was finally allowed into the magical world that currently inhabits the Prince of Wales theatre for the privilege of seeing this production in the flesh thanks to London Box Office. And yes, it was worth spending one of the very few sunny evenings that London has seen sat in a darkened theatre! 