Standing At The Sky’s Edge – National Theatre

Where to begin. Upon entering the theatre you’re met with an ominous set of a building standing as tall as it can be, with the famous artwork of the “I Love You Will U Marry Me” sign, bringing you straight into the location of the show: Sheffield Park Hill. The musical follows three individual families living under the same roof throughout various timelines, telling the story of the occupants in the flat and covering family troubles and dilemmas.

The music for this show fits in so perfectly. The music styles vary from soft and loving all the way to repressed and angry, without taking the audience aback the music had the power to knit the whole show together beautifully. A couple of songs really reached out to strike the hearts of the audience and received a very loud round of applause, these being Tonight the Streets Are Ours, There’s a Storm A-Comin’ and Don’t Get Hung Up in Your Soul.

The lighting design created by Mark Henderson covered an array of effects and colours, designed with moving lights and Tungsten fixtures to tie into each scene seamlessly and bring the emotion to life. A broad range of lighting effects were used such as strobe, rock and roll and natural lighting states to fit in with the pace of the song, the time of day and the emotion throughout. The use of a neon sign to represent the famous artwork really brought the set together and was beautifully used within the show to pull at the audience’s heartstrings. LEDs lined the walls of the house to represent the fine line between the inside and the outside of the house, these also changed with each emotion that the characters felt and the mood of the music.

There were a few characters that stood out throughout the show. Joy (Faith Omole) seamlessly transitioned from a young girl to a woman throughout the course of the show. She captivated the audience with her emotion and amazing voice as well as performing her story beautifully. Workman 1/Gary/Nigel (Darragh Cowley) played each part effortlessly. Although he didn’t have a leading role, he still portrayed each character and their emotions to the

full extent, captivating the audience throughout. Poppy (Alex Young) played the role of a middle-aged woman running away from a toxic relationship. Her character effortlessly whipped out joke after joke, followed by a side of sarcasm to push away any emotion. She enabled the audience to go through her story alongside her, laughing and crying through every step and allowing the audience to relate to her struggles.

To conclude this glowing review, I am going to implore everyone to see this show with stunning lighting, sound and set harmonizing with an outstanding cast from our main protagonists all the way through to the huge ensemble, who really bring this show alive. A truly amazing co-production between Sheffield Theatre and National Theatre.

Playing until 25th March, https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/productions/standing-at-the-skys-edge/

Reviewer: Chloe Stallibrass

Reviewed: 16th February 2023

North West End UK Rating: ★★★★★