Skylight
Last Update 05-Mar-2008
From Monday 28th February 2000
To Saturday 4th March 2000
David Hare
A drama of living and loving in the recall
world. Tom and Kyra had an affair which suddenly ended. Then
years later, Tom reappears at Kyra's door hoping that they can share a
new life together, but more than time has come between them. Tom
is a successful restaurateur, the epitome of eighties' capitalism; Kyra,
a teacher, with a social conscience, and a tough school.
Will passion enable them to bridge the gap or will they remain poles apart.
This play contains strong language.
Director's Notes
Born in 1947, David Hare began writing plays whilst still at Cambridge, which provides the setting for one of his best, 'Teeth 'n' Smiles'. The context allows Hare to analyse the separation of privilege in British Society. Later work includes "Plenty" which he wrote and directed for the National and "Pravda" which examines the corruption of newspaper ownership written in collaboration with Howard Benton. "Skylight" opened at the National in 1995 starring Michael Gambon and Lia Williams.Kyra Hollis lives in a shabby north west London flat and is a dedicated teacher in a run down east London school. Tom Sergeant is a successful businessman from humble beginnings who has built up a chain of hotels and restaurants. As a young girl, Kyra worked for Tom and his wife Alice. Now, a year after Alice's death, Tom's son, Edward, unexpectedly arrives at Kyra's flat seeking help for his father. The same evening, Tom also visits Kyra but what is it he needs?
Press Release 1
STRONG LANGUAGE! POWERFUL EMOTIONS!If Valentine's Day has put you in the mood for a good love story but with a little more substance than hearts and flowers, then look no further than Kidderminster's The Rose Theatre studio from February
to March.
The Nonentities' next play, Skylight deals with the after-effects of a love affair that went wrong, but with a bit of luck and more than a bit of match-making from Tom's son -may have a chance in the future When Torn was struggling to establish his restaurant business and take care of a sick wife, the vivacious Kyra proved just the right tonic. However, it wasn't to be. Years later Tom, now a successful entrepreneur, searches out Kyra and hopes to continue where they left off He is a man used to getting his own way. Will Kyra abandon her draining teaching job and take the comfortable life offered her?
You are invited to an intimate and arresting portrayal of one night and one morning in a relationship that rests on a knife edge. Take a glimpse into the lives of a couple caught between falling in love and falling apart in this modern play which for all its romance and glimpses of another world is a hard edged drama full of tension and realism.
Press Release 2
DARING CHOICEThe Nonentities' next play in the studio space from February 28th to March 4th is perhaps the season's most controversial best of British offering. This will be the first time that a David Hare play has been seen at The Rose Theatre, Kidderminster. although the playwright has a number of quality scripts such as Knuckle. Racing Demon and Amy's View which deserve performances. However, the one chosen as an example of top quality contemporary English writing is Skylight an edgy love story to be performed in the studio. It is a play :hat uses strong language to suit its contemporary themes but in which the swearing is far from gratuitous. Indeed the play is an enthralling and moving insight into love in our time which also shows Hare considering the theme of sacrifice - what it means, what it costs. Michael Billington of The Guardian newspaper rated this as the "Play of the Decade" in the nineties and if you like real drama about real people with real problems this is a must-see play from an exciting and committed writer. The reviewer in The Times said "There are times in the Theatre when the audience's attention is so tense it is palpable, Skylight is punctuated with such moments." Make sure that you safeguard a seat for this searing study of two individuals struggling to come together despite the obstacles of time and conscience.