I remember the original 1996 production of Skylight on Broadway. I was so thrilled, especially by the commanding performance of Michael Gambon. He exploded on the stage and kept the pyrotechnics coming for two hours. Gambon became like a comet for me, waiting for his return across the pond so patiently. It so happens that I had just seen Master Class, playing right next door to where Skylight was playing, with Patti Lupone as Maria Callas. I repaired to Joe Allen for a burger after the show, there in the afterglow of a great performance, when a whisper went through the crowd. Michael Gambon and Patti Lupone had just walked in together. If you know me at all, you know I go to the theater. That I'm, well, an enthusiast. I couldn't have been more awed if Michael Jackson and Madonna had stroll in together for a post-concert supper.
So, Skylight is a more than a fond memory. The Gambon performance stands damned tall in my thrilling performances bank.
Now it is my great pleasure to report that Bill Nighy is currently outdoing the great man in this production playing at the Golden Theater. His performance is something to behold. For all who seek to tread these boards someday; for all those who tread them now: go see Nighy give this master class in precision and stage presence (catch the incredible stage business along the way).
No slouch herself, Carey Mulligan stands toe-to-toe with him, and turns in an electrifying performance of her own. Ben Brantley said in his Times review about Mulligan, "...(her) work in films doesn't begin to capture the hypnotic presence she emanates onstage." On film Mulligan plays the liquid ingenue infatuated and delicately beautiful. Nothing doing about that here. Mulligan leaves her delicate self behind and dives into the storm of remembering. These lovers, Kyra and Tom, inhabit a rare place in time, time out of time, where they remember, relive, and revile their former time together. I maintained then, and I maintain now, that this is David Hare's finest play (maybe by a long shot).
Mathew Beard, the newcomer to watch, puts in a careful, rousing performance of his own. This is no add-on character as the frame-setting son. He opens and closes the play with a flourish you would not think available in the margin beside these two great performances. What can I say about Bob Crowley's set? Just one more perfectly imagined, eloquently rendered set that seem as natural to create to him as going to the theater to see them does to me. Stephen Daldry directs with a power and restraint that keeps us spellbound.
This is a play about impossible love; impossible, irresistible love. You can't help but get caught up in it.
10 weeks only, through June 21st
Ron Gallen
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