David Hare’s classic 1995 play SKYLIGHT is a searing portrait of two people who have a strong desire for each other and yet at the same time incense each other.
After three years of having not seen each other, Tom turns up at Kyra’s run-down apartment, seeking answers. Why did she leave him just at the time when he was ready to leave his marriage and make a commitment to her?! Is it possible that they could still have a future together?
The atmosphere in Kyra’s living room during their encounter is as bracing and relentless as the cold, damp London weather outside.
The former couple tug and pull at each others characters with pinpoint accuracy.
‘What are you doing here, Kyra’, wails Tom. He argues with her, why, when she is such a bright, intelligent woman, is she living in such squalor?! Why, in the middle of a freezing winter, does she only have a tiny gas heater to keep herself warm?
Why is she spending her time teaching underprivileged schoolkids, when she could make something much better of her life? It’s almost like he wants to wring Kyra’s neck, such is his frustration with her and, what he sees, as her lack of ambition.
Tom drives Kyra crazy. She despises how he accumulates wealth and flashes it about. She can’t stand his condescending approach to ordinary people and their lives. It riles her that he thinks nothing of letting his driver wait downstairs indefinitely whilst he talks to her.
She is passionate about teaching her kids and serving the community rather than his entrepreneurial job where the money just rolls in.
SKYLIGHT is bookended by scenes featuring Kyra with Tom’s grown-up son, Edward. Edward has come to visit Kyra because he is concerned that his father has gone off the rails since his wife Alice died of cancer. Knowing that Tom and she shared something special, he asks Kyra to see him.
Mark Kilmurry’s production is impressive. The performances of the two leads are exhilarating. As Tom, Sean Taylor once again proves what a powerful dramatic actor he is. Katherine Cullen more than holds her own as the sensitive, intense Kyra.
One reservation, unfortunately a common one in the theatre…Hare wrote Tom and Kyra as a couple with a strong desire for each other. The most we see on stage are kisses on the cheek. Where’s the passion?!
In the supporting role, Nigel Turner-Carroll as Edward showed some nice light touches.
Ailsa Paterson’s period set of Kyra’s very modest living room, together with the addition of a skylight, in reference to the skylight room that Tom built for his dying wife, worked effectively.
Mark Kilmurry’s revival of David Hare’ SKYLIGHT opened at the Ensemble theatre, 78 McDougall Street, Kirribilli on Wednesday 27th June and is playing until Saturday 28th July, 2012.
© David Kary
30th June, 2012
Tags: Sydney Theatre Reviews- SKYLIGHT, David Hare, Ensemble Theatre, Mark Kilmurry, Katherine Cullen, Sean Taylor, Nigel Turner-Carroll, Sydney Arts Guide, David Kary