''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 Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

in 1996. After opening on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in 1996, it played again in the West End in 1997 at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

. It was revived at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End in 2014, and that production transferred to Broadway in 2015.

Productions

''Skylight'' premiered in May 1995 at the Cottesloe Theatre, National Theatre, directed by

Richard Eyre Sir Richard Charles Hastings Eyre (born 28 March 1943) is an English film, theatre, television and opera director. Biography Eyre was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, the son of Richard Galfridus Hastings Giles Eyre and his wife, Minna Ma ...

and starring

Michael Gambon Sir Michael John Gambon (; born 19 October 1940) is an Irish-English actor. Regarded as one of Ireland and Britain's most distinguished actors, he is known for his work on stage and screen. Gambon started his acting career with Laurence Olivi ...

and

Lia Williams Lia Williams (born 26 November 1964) is an English actress and director, known for stage, film, and television appearances. She is noted for her role as Wallis Simpson in ''The Crown''. Theatre career Williams's breakthrough performance came ...

. The production moved to the

for a short run from 13 February 1996, again with Gambon and Williams.Hare, David
Script
''Skylight'' (books.google.com), Faber and Faber, 2013 (no page numbers) Both actors appeared in the Broadway transfer from September to December 1996. Both earned

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

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." 'Skylight' Listing, 1996"
playbillvault.com, accessed 30 March 2015 The play won the 1996

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...

for Play of the Year."Olivier Awards, 1996"
olivierawards.com, accessed 30 March 2015 On 30 June 1997 the play opened at London's

, with

Bill Nighy William Francis Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with ''The Illuminatus! Trilogy, The Illuminatu ...

in his first starring role,Roslyn Sulcas, "Mulligan and Bill Nighy Prepare ‘Skylight’ for Broadway"
''The New York Times'', 26 February 2015; accessed 13 September 2018 and

Stella Gonet Stella Gonet (born 8 May 1960) is a Scottish theatre, film and television actress. She is known for her roles in the BBC dramas ''The House of Eliott'' (1991–94) and ''Holby City'' (2007–09). Her stage credits include playing Ophelia in the ...

, directed by Eyre. It ran through 11 October 1997. A new production directed by

Stephen Daldry Stephen David Daldry CBE (born 2 May 1960) is an English director and producer of film, theatre, and television. He has won three Olivier Awards for his work in the West End and three Tony Awards for his work on Broadway. He has received three ...

and starring

Carey Mulligan Carey Hannah Mulligan (born 28 May 1985) is an English actress. She has received List of awards and nominations received by Carey Mulligan, various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy A ...

, Nighy—reprising the part he had first performed in 1997—and Matthew Beard opened at the Wyndham's Theatre in June 2014."''Skylight'' review – Hare revival is a Thatcherite play for today"
''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', 22 June 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2014. The play was broadcast live (or near-live) to cinema audiences via

National Theatre Live National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London, which broadcasts live via satellite, performances of their productions (and from other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world. About I grew ...

(NT Live) on 17 July 2014. This production transferred to Broadway at the

John Golden Theatre The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was de ...

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, and won Best Revival of a Play. On June 10, 2016, Hidden Cove Productions was to open ''Skylight'', starring Sara Topham,

Lindsay G. Merrithew Stott Pilates is a branded version of the Pilates method of physical exercise that was developed by Lindsay and Moira Merrithew. The most significant difference between Stott Pilates and Joseph Pilates's original method of the early 1900s is that ...

and Tim Dowler-Coltman, 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 Fala Chen (; born 24 February 1982) is a Chinese American actress. She is known for her roles in Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film ''Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'' and HBO miniseries ''Irma Vep'' and ''The Undoing''. Che ...

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 response, 11 additional shows were added. On February 14, 2017, Theatre Calgary was to open ''Skylight'', starring Geoffrey Simon Brown, Dean Paul Gibson and Myla Southward at the Max Bell Theatre in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,30 ...

, 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 Holden Street Theatres (HST) is a South Australian performing arts theatre complex in Hindmarsh, an inner-western suburb of Adelaide. It is housed in the heritage-listed All Saints' Anglican Church (also known as All Saints' Church) complex. T ...

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.

Characters

Source: ''Skylight'' *Tom Sergeant= near 50, wealthy restauranteur *Kyra Hollis= just past 30, maths teacher in a poor area of London *Edward Sergeant= Tom's son, 18, in his "gap year" before university

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 Sir Terence Orby Conran (4 October 1931 – 12 September 2020) was an English designer, restaurateur, retailer and writer. He founded the Design Museum in Shad Thames, London in 1989 The British designer Thomas Heatherwick said that 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 * 1996 Olivier Award for Play of the Year * 1997 Theatre World Special Award for Outstanding Debut Ensemble (

and

Christian Camargo Christian Camargo (né Minnick; born July 7, 1971) is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Brian Moser in the Showtime drama ''Dexter'', Michael Corrigan in the Netflix drama '' House ...

) * 2015 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play ; Nominations * 1996 Olivier Award for Best Actor (Michael Gambon) * 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 (

) * 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) * 2015 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play (Bill Nighy) * 2015 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play (Matthew Beard) * 2015 Olivier Award for Best Revival"Olivier Awards, 2015"
olivierawards.com, accessed 30 March 2015

References

External links

* * {{Navboxes , title = Awards for ''Skylight'' , list = {{OlivierAward Play 1976–2000 {{TonyAward PlayRevival 2001–2025 1995 plays Broadway plays Laurence Olivier Award-winning plays Plays by David Hare West End plays Tony Award-winning plays Plays set in London