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1963

Skyvers

Written by Barry Reckord

Play Details

Context

Artistic Director 
George Devine

Part Of
Sunday Night Productions Without Décor

Dates Performed

Sunday 7th April 1963
Main House (Downstairs)

Play Details

Synopsis

A gritty London classroom becomes a battleground where the dreams of working-class youth clash violently with a rigid, unforgiving educational system.

Cragge, a defiant and intelligent teenager, finds himself at odds with both his peers and the school authorities as he struggles against the suffocating conformity demanded by 1960s British society. As he and four classmates face their final days of school, Cragge’s refusal to accept the limited future mapped out for him sets him on a collision course with those who would keep him in his place.

Reckord’s groundbreaking play offers a searing indictment of an educational system that fails its most vulnerable students. Through sharp dialogue and unflinching realism, Skyvers explores themes of class inequality, institutional violence, and the crushing of individuality. The playwright’s keen ear for authentic youth voices brings to life the frustrations, hopes, and raw energy of teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, trapped in a system that seems designed to break their spirit.

As Cragge faces brutal physical punishments and social ostracism, the play asks difficult questions about the true purpose of education and the cyclical nature of poverty and oppression. Reckord’s work stands as a powerful call for reform and a poignant reminder of the human cost of a society that fails to nurture the potential of all its young people.

Director(s)

Ann Jellicoe

Other productions

Cast & Creative

Cast

Dallas Cavell

Cast

Harriet Devine

Cast

Nicolas Edmett

Cast

John Hall

Cast

David Hemmings

Cast

Lance Kaufman

Cast

Annette Robertson John Woodnutt

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