They were showing a play in the local cinema last Thursday. It was coming in live from the National Theatre in the West End and I thought of going.
That I was thinking of going even after reading the synopsis shows how powerful the idea is that going to a play is “a nice thing to do”.
The synopsis:
On a bitterly cold London evening, schoolteacher Kyra Hollis receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, Tom Sergeant, a successful and charismatic restaurateur whose wife has recently died. As the evening progresses, the two attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.
O Christ, what can it be, other than a lot of talking?
Emotions long suppressed brought out into the open, new truths and old lies, etc, etc
But part of you wants to find out: what is it to be locked in a “dangerous battle of mutual desires”?
And then you see who they’ve cast – Carey Mulligan as the teacher and Bill Nighy as her former lover. Yes, Bill Nighy! He’s 64. She looks about 20. You think – this could be hilarious. If only it weren’t 180 minutes. If only the sun hadn’t kept shining.
Skylight, written by David Hare; directed by Roger Daldry
