Standing at the Sky's Edge

By Chris Bush and Richard Hawley

Poppy wants to escape her old life in London. Joy and Jimmy want to spend the rest of their lives together. Rose and Harry want the new life they've been promised.
A history of modern Britain told through the stories of one Sheffield housing estate, Standing at the Sky's Edge charts the hopes and dreams of three generations over the course of six tumultuous decades. With a book by acclaimed playwright Chris Bush, and set to the irresistible songs of legendary singer-songwriter Richard Hawley, it is a heartfelt exploration of the power of community and what it is we call home.
Standing at the Sky's Edge was first performed at Sheffield Theatres in 2019, when it won Best Musical Production at the UK Theatre Awards and the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre. It was revived in 2022, before transferring to the National Theatre, London, directed by Robert Hastie.
It won Best New Musical at the Olivier Awards 2023, with Richard Hawley and Tom Deering's work also awarded Best Original Score or New Orchestations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nick Hern Books
• Release date: Dec 15, 2022
• ISBN: 9781788506380

Chris Bush

Chris Bush is a playwright, lyricist and theatre-maker. Her plays include: Otherland (Almeida Theatre, London, 2025); Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist written with Matt Winkworth (Rose Theatre, Kingston, 2024); an adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House (Sheffield Theatres, 2024); Rock/Paper/Scissors (Sheffield Theatres, 2022); an adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, and New Vic, Newcastle-under-Lyme, 2022); (Not) the End of the World (Schaubühne, Berlin, 2021); Hungry (Paines Plough, 2021); Nine Lessons and Carols (Almeida Theatre, London, 2020); Faustus: That Damned Woman (Headlong, Lyric Hammersmith & Birmingham Rep, 2020); The Last Noël (Old Fire Station, Oxford, 2019); Standing at the Sky's Edge, a musical with music and lyrics by Richard Hawley (Sheffield Theatres, 2019, revived 2022 and at the National Theatre in 2023, West End 2024); The Changing Room (National Theatre Connections, 2018); Steel (Sheffield Theatres, 2018); an adaptation of Pericles (National Theatre, London, 2018); The Assassination of Katie Hopkins, written with Matt Winkworth (Theatr Clwyd, 2018); What We Wished For and A Dream.

Book preview

ACT ONE

Scene One

Park Hill flats. Early morning – bright, cold. A neon sign reading ‘I love you will u marry me?’ is suspended above the stage. A young WORKMAN in a high-vis jacket enters with a Thermos of tea. He stops to look out over the city.

Song: ‘As the Dawn Breaks’

WORKMAN 1. AS THE DAWN BREAKS

OVER ROOF SLATES

HOPE HUNG ON EVERY WASHING LINE

AS YOUR HEART ACHES

OVER LIFE’S FATE

I KNOW WE NEVER HAD MUCH TIME

FOR US TO GIVE

BUT WE DID

THERE’S SOMETHING IN THOSE DEEP BLUE EYES

AS THE LIGHT CREEPS OVER THE HOUSES

AND THE SLATES ARE DARKED BY RAIN

IN THIS MORNING SEARCH FOR MEANING

I HEAR A SONGBIRD’S MELODY

I HEAR A SONGBIRD’S MELODY

AND SHE’S SINGING JUST FOR ME

Two more WORKMEN enter. Toolkits, fuse readers, etc.

WORKMAN 2. You helping, or what?

WORKMAN 1. Yeah, coming. (Still looking out.) Not bad though, is it?

WORKMAN 3 (head buried in a mobile phone). What?

Sighs from the other two.

(More indignant.) What?

WORKMAN 1. Look – don’t you ever just look at it?

WORKMAN 3. Why? Not going anywhere, is it?

WORKMAN 2. Alright then, let’s get to it – see what’s gone wrong this time.

WORKMAN 1. Always summat.

WORKMAN 3. That neon’s been a bastard since day one.

WORKMAN 1. Should’ve left it as graffiti.

WORKMAN 3. Should’ve torn the whole place down when they had the chance.

WORKMAN 2. Nah. Life in it yet.

Our focus shifts to three different tenants arriving at Park Hill in three separate years. They each hold a bag or a box. Whenever we move years we somehow see the date displayed clearly on the set.

First to enter is ROSE in 1960. She takes in the view, a little awestruck.

ROSE. AS THE LIGHT CREEPS OVER THE HOUSES AND THE SLATES ARE DARKED BY RAIN

Now in 2015, POPPY arrives outside her flat. Hopeful.

POPPY. IN THIS MORNING SEARCH FOR MEANING I HEAR A SONGBIRD’S