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Written by David Hare Original language English Playwright David Hare Composer Paul Englishby | 4.5/5 SkylightTO Date premiered 1995 First performance 1995 Genre Drama Place premiered Royal National Theatre | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Subject Matters of life, love and circumstance between an older man and a younger woman Setting Present day flat in Northwest London Similar David Hare plays, Dramas | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Theater talk david hare and stephen daldry on skylight
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.
Contents
Video clips of broadway drama skylight starring bill nighy carey mulligan and matthew beard
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.
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.
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.
The play won the 1996 Laurence Olivier Award for Play of the Year.
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. The play was broadcast live (or near-live) to cinema audiences via NT Live on 17 July 2014. This production transferred to Broadway at the John Golden Theatre on 16 March 2015. The production officially opened on 2 April in a limited engagement to 21 June. The play was nominated for seven 2015 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play.
On June 10, 2016, Hidden Cove Productions will open Skylight, starring Sara Topham, Lindsay G. Merrithew and Tim Dowler-Coltman, at the Berkeley Street Theatre in Toronto, Canada. Larry Moss will direct the four-week run.
On February 14, 2017, Theatre Calgary will open Skylight, starring Geoffrey Simon Brown, Dean Paul Gibson and Myla Southward at the Max Bell Theatre in Calgary, Alberta. Valerie Planche will direct the 2 week run.
Characters
Source: Skylight
Plot
East London school teacher Kyra Hollis is visited on the same night by Edward Sergeant and, later, 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, and it becomes clear that their chances to be rekindled rest on whether one of them can change preconceived notions of the other.