On a bitterly cold London evening, schoolteacher Kyra Hollis (Carey Mulligan) receives an unexpected visit from her former lover, Tom Sergeant (Bill Nighy), a successful and charismatic restaurateur whose wife has recently died. As the evening progresses, the two attempt to rekindle their once passionate relationship, only to find themselves locked in a dangerous battle of opposing ideologies and mutual desires.

Nighy’s extensive film credits include Love Actually, Notes on a Scandal and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and his stage roles include Pravda and the world premiere of David Hare’s The Vertical Hour on Broadway. He plays alongside Carey Mulligan, who has been seen in An Education and on Cinema Nouveau screens in 2014 starring in Inside Llewyn Davis and The Great Gatsby. She is making her West End stage debut in this production. Matthew Beard (An Education, One Day, The Look of Love) takes on the role of Tom’s son, Edward.

Skylight is directed by Academy Award®-nominated director Stephen Daldry, who recently directed the sell-out West End production of The Audience with Helen Mirren, which was also broadcast to cinemas by National Theatre Live in 2013, including sold-out performances here in South Africa.

Hare is the author of 29 full-length plays for the stage, 17 of which have enjoyed productions at the National Theatre, including Plenty, Racing Demon, Murmuring Judges, The Absence of War, Amy’s View, The Power of Yes, Pravda (with Howard Brenton) and Stuff Happens. His many screenplays for film and television include The Hours, The Reader, Page Eight, Turks & Caicos and Salting the Battlefield.

Skylight was first staged in the Cottesloe at the National Theatre in 1995, directed by Richard Eyre, with Michael Gambon as Tom Sergeant, Lia Williams as Kyra Hollis and Daniel Betts as Edward Sergeant. The production won the Olivier Award for Best New Play, and transferred to the West End and later to Broadway.

This production was filmed for National Theatre Live at Wyndham’s Theatre in London. Designs are by Bob Crowley with lighting by Natasha Katz, sound by Paul Arditti and music by Paul Englishby. Skylight is produced in the West End by Robert Fox Limited and Scott Rudin.

Skylight releases on South African screens on Saturday, 15 November, for four screenings only – on Saturday, 15; Wednesday, 19 and Thursday, 20 November at 19:30 and on Sunday, 16 November at 14:30 – at Cinema Nouveau theatres in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town. Bookings are now open. The running time of this production is two hours and 45 minutes and includes a 20 minute interval.

To watch a trailer of Skylight, click here.

For booking information on Skylight, visit www.cinemanouveau.co.za or sterkinekor.mobi, or phone Ticketline on 0861 668 437. Alternatively, follow them on Twitter and visit and like the Facebook page.

National Theatre Live enables audiences to experience the best of British theatre throughout the year, as the National Theatre brings cameras into the auditorium to record and broadcast performances from stage to screen. Over three million people have experienced a National Theatre Live broadcast worldwide. National Theatre Live events are distributed outside the U.K. through New York-based BY Experience, the pioneer of global live ‘alternative content’ digital cinema events.