Review - Skylight

Last Friday, I was vey fortunate to have a handsome friend take me out for my birthday.  We had discussed several shows that we'd like to see, but once discounts finally became available for David Hare's Skylight, we knew what choice to make.

We had both seen the original NY production starring the monumental Michael Gambon, but neither of us had such strong memories of the show that we couldn't enjoy the new production with an open mind.  After having a tasty cocktail at Pigalle before the show, we struggled up to our balcony seats (that should be a post for a later day, the sardine quality of balcony seats in Broadway theaters.  If we hadn't been on an aisle, my handsome friend may have required amputation after the show was over) and settled in to enjoy the show.

Enjoy it, we did.  Skylight is beautifully executed - expertly directed, designed and especially acted,   This story of lost love and class wars was just as timely last Friday as it was in 1997.  Though, I will say that the first act was more successful textually for me because it stayed focused on the couple and their outside situations were subtext, whereas the second act is more pointed in its hammering home the socio-economic point, but the actors were so fantastic, it rather didn't matter to me.

Carey Mulligan is terrific as Kyra, a schoolteacher who lives in a rather squalid flat, who is surprised one evening by two visitors - the son of her former lover and then her lover.  You can see by her behavior that she's used to being alone, she has her routines and quirks of solitary life (I smiled in recognition at a couple of them), but when she has company, you can also see guarded warmth and a big heart.  Mulligan finds so many layers in Kyra that as the evening goes on, I was kind of astounded at how emotionally naked she became by the end.

Matthew Beard is delightful as Edward, the son of Kyra's former lover.  He arrives to set the story in motion - he informs Kyra that his mother has passed away and that his father is not recovering from the loss.  You can see from the ease, yet distance, in which they deal with each other that there was real affection and real pain when Kyra walked out of their lives.  After Edward leaves, his father, Tom, played with massive charm and wit by Bill Nighy, arrives.

The way Nighy prowls around the stage, trying to remark his territory, is terrific.  He's so witty and urbane, yet so damaged, that you see what Kyra responds to in him.  She's such a nuturer, but clearly with daddy issues, that this older man is a perfect fit for her.  The fact that Kyra is a perfect fit for Tom as well is the tragedy of the piece.

Tom and Kyra carried on an affair for six years even while Kyra was friends with Tom's wife.  Once the wife found out about the affair, Kyra walked out and has had no contact since. There's much pain as the two of them relive and rehash old arguments, but also start new squabbles to avoid getting to the heart of the matter.  As the play goes on and we see and hear these former lovers tiptoe around each other, trying to find each other again after so much pain, and then seeing that the gulf is just too wide for them to be together, we're so connected to the couple that we have the pain, too.  And in the last scene, where the son comes back and shows that he really listened to and respected what Kyra said to him earlier, it was even more painful to see the manifestation of her frustration with Tom.

Photo credit:  Sara Krulwich

I was really involved and connected throughout the show - I'll admit to feeling a kinship with Kyra and the dilemma she finds herself in.  The problems of love and human connection (and the loss of human connection) is so universal.  I will also admit to be driven a little insane by one directorial (I think) choice.  All the characters talk about how cold it is in the apartment - it's part of the issue of class and income arguments that Kyra and Tom have throughout - yet everyone walks around the apartment in bare feet.  No shoes, no socks.  I'm sorry, but if it's so cold in there (which is what we're supposed to believe), no one would have bare feet for that long.  It seems a goofy thing to fixate on; maybe it's because my feet are always cold that I noticed it so much.  :)  Other than that, I thought the show was terrifically paced and directed.  I thought the original score was used judiciously and well throughout and once I got used to the convention utilized with regards to the set, I was on board with that, too.

I had a grand time at Skylight and am so grateful my handsome friend took me, I probably wouldn't have seen it otherwise.  We also had a tasty dessert at Marseille afterwards, so it was a lovely night all around.  If you're at all interested in great acting and intelligent dialogue, I'd head over to the Golden Theatre too, if I were you...