The multi-award winning new musical 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 decades.
It navigates love, loss and survival and reveals the history of modern Britain through the stories of the landmark Park Hill housing estate. It also explores the power of community and what it is we all call home.
I went to see it on a Thursday evening, and The Gillian Lynne theatre was absolutely packed – with people leaving at the end of the show smiling, with happy tears, and in good spirits.
There were people of all ages in the audience which suited the show’s engaging flicker between different decades and different generations.
The set was just phenomenal, with the orchestra cleverly positioned within the Park Hill estate. The stage was on two levels, with some scenes on the stage floor and others on a balcony over-looking the single flat in the estate.
The ‘I love you will u marry me’ neon lights which replicated the graffiti on the actual block were captivating and made for an emotionally moving constant throughout the show and throughout the years it was set in.
The band and songs were incredible, sung so powerfully by such talented cast members, all of which have impressive theatrical and television backgrounds.
Laura Pitt-Pulford made the most perfect Poppy – also known as the current inhabitant of the flat in question on Park Hill estate.
The northerner in me favoured her and she hilariously and brilliantly embodied a southerner trying to make her way in the north – something that seemed so far from what she thought was classed as home in the past.
Her ex-partner Nikki was played by Lauryn Redding who so cleverly contrasted with Poppy that they actually fit perfectly together.
Elizabeth Ayodele played the stunning Joy, who prior to Poppy, lived in the Park Hill estate from being a young girl. We watched her character grow into such a powerful young woman, with Samuel Jordan as her heart-throb-turned-baby-Daddy Jimmy.
I loved Rachel Wooding as Rose who was paired with Joel Harper-Jackson as Harry, and the pair helped to let characters become front and centre of contextual symbols of post-war optimism.
It was feel-good, powerful, educational and impressive, and I’d recommend going to see Standing at the Sky’s Edge for yourself while you can.