A Small Mind At The Theatre

When I attended Skylight  on 14th June, I was there purely for the stars, two of my favourites, Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan. It was a dream package for me when I heard it announced and there was no doubt that I would take the opportunity to see it live. The tickets were steep, very steep, £100 in the stalls, which seemed a ridiculous amount for a three hander, so I settled for the gods and my £20 in the grand circle. It was superb as I knew it would be and I was very impressed by David Hare's play as well, which as I say was secondary with no knowledge of it when I booked. Almost exactly a month later I was watching the play again live at a closer perspective, albeit being seventy miles from the theatre via National Theatre Live. Again I marvelled at the performers, but grew to like the play a little bit more as I sat in the plush seats of the Errol Flynn Filmhouse in Northampton. Therefore when on July 30th via @MichaelBott on Twitter the opportunity arose to see the pla...

I may have been sitting up in the gods due to the uncomfortably high prices for this London play, but there was little I had looked forward to more than seeing (if I squinted hard enough) than Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan in Skylight. Bill Nighy was an actor for me of the highest quality and coupled with the superb rising star of Carey Mulligan, this was the dream ticket. Even if that ticket was in the grand circle. I had watched Bill Nighy (Tom) and David Hare at work in the recent Worricker trilogy on BBC and these were plays for television more than television plays and Skylight was much of the same. The lyrical, sparky and often very funny dialogue with sharp undertones of political comment were all there. Once again coupled with Nighy's gangly movement, knowing pauses, high charm and quick delivery, David Hare's dialogue tripped off the page. Nighy's co-star Carey Mulligan (Kyra) had been a favourite of mine since I saw her in, for me, a star making performance ...