Standing At the Sky’s Edge – Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Rachael Wooding and Robert Lonsdale in Standing at the Sky’s Edge at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield. Pictures: Johan Persson

Standing At The Sky’s Edge continues at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield until 6 April 2019.

Star rating: four stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ✩

Park Hill flats have dominated Sheffield’s skyline since they were built in the late 1950s and now they take centre-stage in Standing At the Sky’s Edge, directed by Sheffield Theatres’ artistic director Robert Hastie.

‘It’s brutalism it isn’t meant to be warm’ suggests one of the cast but alongside this writer Chris Bush and musician Richard Hawley have created a bittersweet love song to Sheffield and the audience loved it back.

The show takes place over three timelines stretching from 1959 to present day. Cleverly each story is separate but intertwined. Much of the action takes place in one flat (credit to designer Ben Stones) and actors from different decades gracefully weave between each other in a silent dance.

Flowing through it all are Hawley’s classic songs and new music. ‘Tonight the Streets Are Ours’, sung by Fela Lufadeju, drew cheers and whistles from the audience. Later, Maimuna Memon sings a haunting and breathtaking ‘Open Up Your Door’.

Fela Lufadeju and Faith Omole in Standing at the Sky’s Edge

Perhaps the most heartbreaking moment of the evening though is when Robert Lonsdale, as Harry, performs ‘For Your Lover Give Some Time’ as he struggles to deal with being made redundant from his job at the steelworks and his crumbling relationship with his wife Rose (Rachael Wooding).

In many productions the orchestra is hidden away from the audience but in this production the musicians take pride of place in one of the flats. There’s even a guitar solo during ‘Standing at the Sky’s Edge’ at the opening of Act II which creates something of a rock concert atmosphere.

This production has Made in Sheffield stamped right through it from the jokes about the two local football teams to the Henderson’s Relish – ‘the H is silent’ – housewarming present.

Bush, whose credits include Steel, The Sheffield Mysteries and 20 Tiny Plays About Sheffield, was born in the city and knows just the right buttons to press for the audience.

Throughout the development of Standing at the Sky’s Edge the creative team has been in regular dialogue with past and present residents, creating stories that feature online and in the Crucible throughout the run of the production. A local brewery has created a Standing at the Sky’s Edge beer with some of the profits going towards Sheffield Theatres’ community outreach work in the city.

The people behind the production say they want to bring together the city to remember, to sing, to create, to celebrate what it means to call Sheffield home. They certainly succeed.

Katie Galbraith