Standing at the Sky's Edge (NHB Modern Plays) E-Book

Chris Bush

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Seitenzahl: 113

Beschreibung

Hailed as 'the most exciting new British musical in years' (WhatsOnStage), Standing at the Sky's Edge was originally written as a love letter to Sheffield, charting the hopes and dreams of three generations over the course of six tumultuous decades, navigating universal themes of love, loss, and survival. With irresistible songs by legendary singer-songwriter Richard Hawley and a beautiful, hilarious and gut-wrenching book by Chris Bush, Standing at the Sky's Edge reveals the history of modern Britain through the stories of a landmark housing estate. It is a heartfelt exploration of the power of community and what it is we all call home. It was first performed at Sheffield Theatres in 2019, directed by Robert Hastie, before transferring to the National Theatre in 2023, and then the Gillian Lynne Theatre in London's West End in 2024. It won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical, the UK Theatre Award for Best Musical Production, and the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre. 'The best British musical in decades'Daily Express 'The most exciting new British musical in years'WhatsOnStage 'Magnificent… wonderful… possesses remarkable breadth and depth… a moving and resonant piece'The Times 'A glorious love letter to Sheffield with a big, booming heart and astonishing sound… unstoppably winning, ineffably exuberant, extremely moving… take tissues'Guardian

Leseprobe

STANDING AT THE SKY’S EDGE

Book by

Chris Bush

Music & Lyrics by

Richard Hawley

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Dedication

Introduction

Original Production Details

Characters

Musical Numbers

Standing at the Sky’s Edge

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

For everyone who’s made a home here

Introduction

Chris Bush

It’s now been almost ten years since I wrote my first play for Sheffield Theatres, and I believe my tally now stands in the double digits. Almost every one of those pieces has been described by someone at some point as a ‘love letter’ to Sheffield. More often than not, I haven’t been aware that’s what I was writing. In fact, while this label has generally been used approvingly, sometimes it’s irked me a little. As a writer I want to be in the business of nuance and complexity, not hagiography. Aren’t love letters a bit simplistic? Don’t they sit at odds with the knotty and three-dimensional portraits I’m trying to create?

Recently I’ve come to accept the compliment. After all, love is knotty. Love is three-dimensional. To love something is not to declare it flawless, but to love it in spite of, or even because of, its flaws. Love can sometimes be difficult to explain, impossible to justify rationally, but this only makes it more interesting. Beauty, as we know, is in the eye of the beholder, and this is because love is really just a matter of perspective – it’s the lens through which we observe the object of our affection. The same faces, the same streets, the same rolling hills or rain-streaked concrete, these things become loveable when looked on lovingly. If I have spent the last decade writing inadvertent love letters to this remarkable city, perhaps it’s only because I can’t see it any other way. Love is in the looking.

Park Hill has not always been an easy place to love. Built with all the best intentions, it wasn’t long before problems started to arise. In fact, one former resident told me that the roof was leaking within the first year of it being open. For some, it’s an architectural icon. For others, it’s always been an eyesore. Whatever its aesthetic merits or lofty ideals, it’s undeniable that for a significant part of its history it did a fairly terrible job of

fulfilling the function it was built for. Shelter is not just about keeping out the rain (and, as noted, it didn’t always do that very well), but it’s about security, community, comfort, a sense of belonging, a source of pride. At its lowest ebb, the only residents of Park Hill were those who had no means to be anywhere else. As such, it did shelter some of the city’s most vulnerable, but not with the dignity or care to which we’re all entitled. And yet, as Connie tells us:

Love blossoms in the most unlikely places Love amongst the piss-smelling walkways The world’s most effective air freshener

Not love for the building, perhaps love in spite of the building, but still love to find here nonetheless. Love, and endurance, and a belief that things can get better. These characters aren’t idiots, they’re not hopelessly naive or absurdly optimistic, in fact they might often struggle to make it to the end of each day, but they are trying to make a home here, to put down roots, to make the most of the hand they’ve been dealt.

From one perspective, Standing at the Sky’s Edge is a hyper-local story – the action is mostly contained within one flat on one estate in one city – but beyond that, it is the story of post-war Britain in microcosm. While this wasn’t always at the forefront of my mind while writing, Park Hill has increasingly come to embody the state itself – designed as a force for good by people who perhaps never fully understood who they were building it for, underfunded, monolithic and unwieldy, a money pit, a monumental feat, an idealistic and unsustainable albatross. As national fortunes change so does its function, shifting from something designed for everyone to a not-fit-for-purpose last resort, avoided by all but the most at risk. Then, as we approach the modern era, its nature changes again – it is revitalised, it dazzles, the concrete gleams, but this is only possible through private investment, and now it serves a different type of person, its function has shifted once more, it’s no longer the thing it was built for.

Of course this is an oversimplification, and by no means an exact parallel. Park Hill remains a complicated proposition with a chequered history, which is one of the reasons why its story is worth telling. It is beautiful now. The new flats – all sympathetically and lavishly refurbished – are a patchwork of private, social and student housing. It has avoided demolition and rebuilt itself for a new century. From an outside view, it appears to be working. Whatever mistakes were made, whatever it could’ve done better, it is at least serving a function again – it is a home – it is hundreds of homes, each one of them containing a story. It will house locals, and those who will become local, given time. It will provide shelter, and hopefully a great deal more than that. It is not without its flaws. It cannot be all things to all people, and perhaps has strayed far too far from its initial brief. Not everyone is able to look upon it lovingly, and I understand that. And so I don’t think this is a love letter to Park Hill itself, not to the steel and the concrete, not to the monolith, but most certainly to the people within it, to all of them, to the ones who thrived and the ones who struggled, the ones who got out and the ones who clung on. To the ones who made a home here.

While we’re on the subject of love – this show would be nothing without the sheer brilliance of Richard Hawley, and the aching, deeply felt romance that carries through all his work, masterfully orchestrated by Tom Deering. Much love too for Ben Stones and his stunning design, finding the beauty in the Brutalism, for Lynne Page’s gorgeous movement, and Rupert Lord’s sheer bloody-mindedness in getting us all this far. I love that the National Theatre have recognised this is a properly national story, and invited us to play with them. I love this phenomenal company of actors, filled with old friends and new discoveries, and I must, as always, save the largest part of my (professional) love for Rob Hastie, not only the finest director, but the nicest man in British Theatre. I am beyond privileged to be able to work with such an amazing team, and to get to tell these stories all over again.

December 2022

Standing at the Sky’s Edge was co-commissioned by Sheffield Theatres and Various Productions Ltd. It was first performed at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, on 20 March 2019 (previews from 14 March). It was revived at the Crucible on 15 December 2022 (previews from 10 December), then transferred to the Olivier auditorium at the National Theatre, London, on 13 February 2023 (previews from 9 February).

The production transferred to the Gillian Lynne Theatre, London, on 8 February 2024, produced by the National Theatre and Various Productions. The West End cast and creative team was as follows:

MAX/WORKMAN 3

Jonathan Andre

JOY

Elizabeth Ayodele

ONSTAGE SWING

Monique Ashe-Palmer

GARY/NIGEL/WORKMAN 1

Jonathon Bentley

ONSTAGE SWING

Adam Colbeck-Dunn

ONSTAGE SWING

Viquichele (Vee) Cross

ONSTAGE SWING

Jamie Doncaster

ONSTAGE SWING

Caroline Fitzgerald

JENNY

Mya Fox-Scott

HARRY

Joel Harper-Jackson

GRACE/ALICE

Sharlene Hector

JIMMY

Samuel Jordan

ONSTAGE SWING

Jerome Lincoln

CONNIE

Mel Lowe

JOE/WORKMAN 2

David McKechnie

ONSTAGE SWING

Sean McLevy

CATHY

Rachael Louise Miller

GEORGE

Baker Mukasa

MARCUS/HOUSING OFFICER

Alastair Natkiel

POPPY

Laura Pitt-Pulford

CHARLES/TREV/SEB

Adam Price

NIKKI

Lauryn Redding

VIVIENNE/KAREN

Nicola Sloane

JUSTINE

Lillie-Pearl Wildman

ONSTAGE SWING

Karen Wilkinson

ROSE

Rachael Wooding

Young Company

YOUNG CONNIE

Alayna Anderson

Renee Hart

Chioma Nduka

YOUNG JIMMY

Luca Foster-Lejeune

Eric Madgwick

Sam Stocks

Director

Robert Hastie

Designer

Ben Stones

Choreographer

Lynne Page

Orchestrator, Arranger and Originating Music Supervisor

Tom Deering

Lighting Designer

Mark Henderson

Sound Designer

Bobby Aitken

Wigs, Hair and Make-up Designer

Cynthia De La Rosa

Musical Director

Alex Beetschen

Casting Director

Stuart Burt

Children’s Casting

Chloe Blake

Associate Director

Elin Schofield

Associate Choreographer

Thomas Herron

Associate Costume Designer

Sally Wilson

Associate Musical Director

Sam Hall

Associate Sound Designer

Jonas Roebuck

Sound Programming Associate

Nick Gilpin

Orchestral Manager

Nicola Rossiter

Dialect Coaches

Michaela Kennen

Shereen Ibrahim

Characters

The piece moves between three different timelines, as follows:

TIMELINE A:

1960/1979/1985/1989

TIMELINE B:

1989/1992/2002/2004

TIMELINE C:

2015/2017/2019/2020

TIMELINE A:

ROSE, local. Slightly unwilling housewife. Begins mid-twenties

HARRY, her husband. Steel worker. Begins mid-twenties

JAMES, their son, age eight

TREV, a former colleague of Harry

NIGEL, Trev’s son

CATHY, Nigel’s fiancée

TIMELINE B:

JOY, a young Liberian refugee. Begins age fourteen

GRACE, her elder cousin

GEORGE, another of Joy’s cousins, Grace’s younger brother

JIMMY, the now-teenage son of Harry and Rose

CONSTANCE, Joy’s daughter. Begins ten

HOUSING OFFICER GARY, a local teen

SECURITY GUARD

JOE

TIMELINE C:

POPPY, southern, middle class. Thirties

NIKKI, Poppy’s ex. Twenties/thirties

CHARLES, Poppy’s father. Fifties/sixties

VIVIENNE, Poppy’s mother. Fifties/sixties

MARCUS, Poppy’s colleague. Thirties

CONNIE, adult Constance, now mid-twenties

MAX, Marcus’s boyfriend

SEB, party guest

ALICE, party guest

KAREN, party guest

JUSTINE, party guest

JENNY, party guest

Additionally WORKMEN (1–3) and COMPANY play various other choral roles as indicated.

Note

No real attempt has been made to denote accents/spell dialogue phonetically (other than in a few specific instances), as by and large this is patronising and unhelpful, but allow the Sheffield dialect to inform all local characters.

This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so may differ slightly from the play as performed.

Musical Numbers

ACT ONE

‘As the Dawn Breaks’

WORKMAN 1/ ROSE/JOY/ POPPY

‘Time Is’

COMPANY

‘Naked in Pitsmoor’

POPPY

‘I’m Looking for Someone to Find Me’

ROSE/POPPY/ COMPANY

‘Tonight the Streets Are Ours’

GEORGE/ COMPANY

ACT TWO

‘Open Up Your Door’

NIKKI

‘My Little Treasures’

HARRY/ COMPANY

‘Coles Corner’

JOY

‘There’s a Storm A-Comin’’

COMPANY

ACT THREE

‘Standing at the Sky’s Edge’

COMPANY

‘Our Darkness’

NIGEL/CATHY/ HARRY/ROSE/ COMPANY

‘Midnight Train’

JIMMY/ COMPANY

‘For Your Lover Give Some Time’

HARRY/POPPY/ NIKKI

‘There’s a Storm A-Comin’’ (Reprise)

JOY

ACT FOUR

‘After the Rain’

ROSE/COMPANY

‘Don’t Get Hung Up in Your Soul’

CONNIE/JIMMY/ JOY

ACT ONE

Scene One

Park Hill flats. Early morning – bright, cold. A neon sign reading ‘I love you will u marry me?’ is suspended above the stage. A young WORKMAN in a high-vis jacket enters with a Thermos of tea. He stops to look out over the city.

Song: ‘As the Dawn Breaks’

WORKMAN 1. AS THE DAWN BREAKS

OVER ROOF SLATES

HOPE HUNG ON EVERY WASHING LINE

AS YOUR HEART ACHES

OVER LIFE’S FATE

I KNOW WE NEVER HAD MUCH TIME

FOR US TO GIVE

BUT WE DID

THERE’S SOMETHING IN THOSE DEEP BLUE EYES

AS THE LIGHT CREEPS OVER THE HOUSES

AND THE SLATES ARE DARKED BY RAIN

IN THIS MORNING SEARCH FOR MEANING

I HEAR A SONGBIRD’S MELODY

I HEAR A SONGBIRD’S MELODY

AND SHE’S SINGING JUST FOR ME

Two more WORKMEN enter. Toolkits, fuse readers, etc.

WORKMAN 2. You helping, or what?

WORKMAN 1. Yeah, coming. (Still looking out.) Not bad though, is it?

WORKMAN 3 (head buried in a mobile phone). What?

Sighs from the other two.

(More indignant.) What?

WORKMAN 1. Look – don’t you ever just look at it?

WORKMAN 3. Why? Not going anywhere, is it?

WORKMAN 2. Alright then, let’s get to it – see what’s gone wrong this time.

WORKMAN 1. Always summat.

WORKMAN 3. That neon’s been a bastard since day one.

WORKMAN 1. Should’ve left it as graffiti.

WORKMAN 3. Should’ve torn the whole place down when they had the chance.

WORKMAN 2. Nah. Life in it yet.

Our focus shifts to three different tenants arriving at ParkHill in three separate years. They each hold a bag or a box.

Whenever we move years we somehow see the date displayedclearly on the set.

First to enter is ROSE in 1960. She takes in the view, a littleawestruck.

ROSE. AS THE LIGHT CREEPS OVER THE HOUSES

AND THE SLATES ARE DARKED BY RAIN

Now in 2015, POPPY arrives outside her flat. Hopeful.

POPPY. IN THIS MORNING SEARCH FOR MEANING

I HEAR A SONGBIRD’S MELODY

Finally, JOY arrives in 1989. She is mostly terrified, tryingto be brave.

JOY. I HEAR A SONGBIRD’S MELODY

AND SHE’S SINGING JUST FOR ME

The three women sing in harmony, looking out.

ROSE/JOY/POPPY. OH SHE’S SINGING JUST FOR ME

A SIMPLE SONGBIRD’S MELODY

WORKMAN 2 returns.

WORKMAN 2. Right, try it now.

The neon sign flickers on.

That’s done it, come on.

The WORKMEN go. CONNIE