Action replay for award-winning Sheffield Crucible musical Standing at the Sky's Edge ahead of London transfer

Award-winning musical Standing at the Sky’s Edge is lighting up the stage in Sheffield ahead of its run at a world-renowned arts venue.

The presentation, directed by Robert Hastie, is running at the city’s Crucible until January 21, 2023.

Sheffield Theatres and the National Theatre co-produced the musical which will relocate to the Olivier Theatre on London’s Southbank in February 2023.

Winner of the Best Musical Production at the UK Theatre Awards and the 2020 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Theatre, Standing at the Sky’s Edge is a love letter to Sheffield and an ode to the iconic Park Hall flats, set to the irresistible sounds of Richard Hawley.

Darragh Cowley, Robert Lonsdale, Maimuna Memon, Alastair Natkiel, Faith Omole, Deborah Tracey, Rachael Wooding and Alex Young are reunited for the musical which was premiered at the Crucible three years ago.

Chris Bush’s story focuses on Poppy who wants to escape her old life, Joy and Jimmy who want to spend the rest of their lives together and Rose and Harry who want the new life they’ve been promised.

Alex Young, who plays Poppy, said: “She’s a Londoner who runs from recent heartbreak to Sheffield where she buys one of the newly developed Urban Splash apartments in Park Hill. She’s someone who never quite says what’s she is feeling, keeping all of her heartache and rage pent up, so she’s like a pressure cooker. And the result of that tension comes out in both comedic and dramatic stuff that is really exciting to play.

"It’s about humanity, a piece about the human condition, how we relate to each other, and to the place that we live, what we inherit, what we learn and how we love. I think it’s a really important piece. Full of incredible songs and a wonderful, universal story. It’s the best thing I’ve ever been a part of, and I’m so proud of it.”

Alex said that she loves performing at the Crucible. “It’s my favourite theatre in the country and I’m so pleased to be back again. Since Sky’s Edge, I’ve been the luckiest, getting to play Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, Brutus in Coriolanus and Amalia Balash in She Loves Me all at the Crucible. It really feels like my second home. The people are a second family, and I couldn’t be happier about that.”

Tickets from £15, go to www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk