‘Standing at the Sky’s Edge’ to transfer to the West End

The two-time Olivier-winning show took home Best New Musical at the 2023 Olivier Awards. The Sheffield-based musical follows three families over 60 years.

After performances at the National Theatre, Standing at the Sky’s Edge will open in the West End next year. Standing at the Sky’s Edge will begin performances at the Gillian Lynne Theatre in February 2024 for an initial six-month period.

Set over six decades at Sheffield’s Park Hill estate, the musical follows three families who live in the same flat at different decades. In 1960s Sheffield, Rose and Harry are excited to move to Park Hill, the embodiment of post-war social housing. In 1980s Sheffield, Liberian refugee Joy moves to the north of England. And in 2010s Sheffield, southerner Poppy flees up north to flee a broken relationship.

In a four-star review on London Theatre, our critic said “you’d need a heart of stone not to be moved by this generous portrait of humanity: a true homegrown triumph.”

Chris Bush’s Standing at the Sky’s Edge won two Oliviers: Best New Musical, and Best Original Score or New Orchestrations (for Richard Hawley and Tom Deering.) Find out more about the Olivier Award winners.

"Making Standing at the Sky's Edge has been the most extraordinary and rewarding experience of my professional career. To see audiences at the National Theatre leap to their feet for these characters and these stories with the same enthusiasm as those in Sheffield has meant the world to me.

For all its hyper-specificity, the last few months have cemented for us that these themes of home, of love, of fresh starts and second chances, are utterly universal. I'm absolutely thrilled that we'll get to introduce Park Hill to a whole new set of audiences in 2024," said playwright Chris Bush.

Robert Hastie directs, with set and costume design by Ben Stones, choreography by Lynne Page, lighting design by Mark Henderson, and sound design by Bobby Aitken.

Standing at the Sky’s Edge is at the Gillian Lynne Theatre.

Photo credit: Standing at the Sky's Edge (Photo courtesy of production)