On a bitterly cold London evening, schoolteacher Kyra Hollis (Carey Mulligan) receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, Tom Sergeant (Bill Nighy), a successful and charismatic restaurateur whose wife has recently died. As the evening progresses, the two attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship, only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.
David Hare's Skylight originally premiered at the National Theatre in London in 1995 before going on to play smash hit engagements in the West End and on Broadway the following year. When the 2014 production of Skylight opened in the West End in June it was praised by critics on both sides of the Atlantic.
Watching a couple duke it out works only if you also understand what drew them to each other in the first place. But in the new Broadway revival of David Hare's 'Skylight,' the lovers don't share much, either in love or war...The imbalance of power between them is a key part of the play, and much of that is due to their age difference...But in this production, directed by Stephen Daldry ('The Audience'), the gap has turned into a chasm: There's no getting around the fact that Mulligan is 29 to Nighy's 65...The lack of sexual chemistry between them makes you wonder why Kyra bothers to put up with Tom. It doesn't help that Nighy, who first played the role in 1997, turns on the charm so hard that all we see are mannered tics. In contrast, Mulligan is a marvel of quiet strength...she truly comes alive onstage. And she does it in such an understated manner that it'd be easy to miss how rich her performance is.
The sharp writing has Kyra both peeling away Tom's many layers, and peeling onions -- the actress cooks spaghetti Bolognese during the first act, and the theater fills with the tangy smell of the sauce. Mulligan slices and dices as she deploys Hare's complex dialogue, accusing her ex-lover of trying to mask his guilt with exorbitant expenditures...Mulligan makes cooking while acting seem easy; it can't be. Nighy, reprising a role he first played in 1997, is excellent at portraying his irritation with his surroundings, eyeing an unappealing morsel of cheese Kyra has asked him to grate as if it were a personal affront...Nighy's performance is full of that nervous energy that makes him so much fun to watch...Bob Crowley's set captures the anonymous feel of the freezing council flat, with a transparent wall that allows the audience to see beyond to the next set of soulless apartments. The design underscores the very different realities that Kyra and Tom, once inseparable, live in now -- 'Skylight' leaves you with the feeling there's no going back for either of them.
1996 | Broadway |
Broadway |
2014 | West End |
West End Revival West End |
2015 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2015 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Carey Mulligan |
2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Carey Mulligan |
2015 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Bill Nighy |
2015 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | David Hare |
2015 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival Play | Skylight |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Stephen Daldry |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Lighting Design of a Play | Natasha Katz |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Matthew Beard |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Bill Nighy |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Carey Mulligan |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Una Jackman |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Scott M. Delman |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Heni Koenigsberg |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Spring Sirkin |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Stuart Thompson |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | True Love Productions |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | The Araca Group |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Carlos Arana |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | David Mirvish |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Joey Parnes |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | John Johnson |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Sue Wagner |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Jay Alix |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Catherine Adler |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Stephanie P. McClelland |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | The Shubert Organization |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Jon B. Platt |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Roy Furman |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Roger Berlind |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Eli Bush |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Scott Rudin |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Robert Fox |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Skylight |
2015 | Tony Awards | Best Scenic Design of a Play | Bob Crowley |
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