“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.
As someone who grew up not far from the Park Hill council estate that is at the centre of this musical, I know I would be especially hard to impress However, even with my scepticism over this very Sheffield show being performed in the West End for this London audience, I have to say, I am impressed!
You can’t talk about Standing at the Sky’s Edge without talking about the epic staging! The huge Park Hill estate is brought to life so excellently here; showing both the distinctive architecture and its iconic graffiti later turned neon sign reading “I Love you, will u marry me’ that has been overlooking the Sheffield skyline for over 20 years. The way the director uses this space, with the band being situated in the upper two flats and the main flat being directly in front of the audience works fantastically well.
Speaking of the band, the use of them instead of an orchestra helps this be set apart from your typical musical. There is a definite rock influence to the soundtrack and the songs are mostly incidental and scene-setting rather than directly sung by characters as part of the storytelling.
Some of the strongest scenes in the performance are the moments when all 3 generations of home dwellers perform the scenes on top of each other in the same space. It almost becomes a ballet with how effortlessly and neatly the movement fits together, it brings to life the feeling of this building’s use as a home over time and the changes and similarities. The large cast dominates the stage between the scenes in movement pieces that make this authentically feel like a slice of city life and lived-in atmosphere. Similarly, the movement piece at the end of Act 1 does a great job of smoothly showing how quickly it can change over a short time.
Standing at the Sky’s Edge is an ambitious play with music that elevates a kitchen sink drama to a new level. It is on at the Gillian Lynn Theatre until the 3rd of August.
