Pop Culture Advent 2023: Door 11
Standing At The Sky’s Edge
One of my 2023 highlights was to spend a week in London developing a play that i’m writing. (And would very much like to see produced one day — hello there, theatres). One of the best things of that week, was getting to see theatre that might have otherwise passed me by. As a result, I managed to catch Standing at the Sky’s Edge at The National Theatre.
Set in Sheffield, the show follows three families living in a housing estate called Park Hill, with the story unfolding over six decades. The book was written by playwright Chris Bush (The Assassination of Katie Hopkins, Rock/ Paper/ Scissors), with music by musician Richard Hawley, with the show being named after Hawley’s 2012 album of the same name.
I was absolutely blown away by this show, and its absolutely beautiful songs. Months later I’m still spotify-ing (if that’s a word) the soundtrack. I was deeply invested in the characters and cared so much about their stories. The show has rightly been described as a love letter to Sheffield, and I took a lot of pleasure in seeing a show about this great big, powerful, Northern city, being played out on a big theatre stage in London.
Standing at the Sky’s edge originally premiered at The Sheffield Crucible in 2019, initially running from March-April. Plans were made to revive it in 2020, but these fell victim of the pandemic. However, it was brought back The Crucible from Dec 2022-January of this year, before transferring to The National Theatre, where it ran from February to March.
It will next be seen in the West End at the Gillian Lynne Theatre from February of next year, for an initial six month season. Tickets can be bought here.
The cast album can be streamed on Spotify and all the usual streaming places.
