Skylight

He’s not like what you’d call rational-articulate. He doesn’t want argument. For Christ’s sake, Kyra, you teach. Language belongs to the past. This is the world of Super Mario. Bang! Splat! Spit out your venom and go. It’s not like, you know . . . when we were together. You and me talking. Talking down the stars from the sky.

Skylight premiered at the National Theatre, London, 1995. It won an Olivier Award for Play of the Year; and an Evening Standard Award for Revival of the Year, 2014.

‘There are times in the theatre when you suddenly find yourself in the grip of silence. There is no fidgeting or coughing, no shifting about in seats: the audience’s attention is so tense it is almost palpable. This is because it is both thrilling and dangerous: a fight to the death, or the dawning of salvation. David Hare’s Skylight is punctuated by such moments. They are the signs that a dramatist of the first rank is writing at full stretch, in complete command of his material, undogmatic and unafraid, unforgiving and compassionate.’ Sunday Times