John Constable's The Skying Years Novel + The Play

DUST JACKET FRONT FLAP

'David's style of writing Cumulus reminds me
of the Irish playwright, Brian Friel'
Not a coincidence as Friel lived in the rural
north west of Ireland, and David grew up and
often lived in north west Wales.
WELSH PLAYWRIGHT AND ACADEMIC
WILLIAM LEWIS


After a close read of 'Cumulus and Cirrus',
The 'Skying Years':
'The play clearly draws on considerable
research and knowledge-building related to art
history, climate change, and the contemporary
practices of media organisations. I learned
about Constable's interest in changing skies
and clouds, about cloud science in the early
nineteenth century, and about Constable's life.
'Among the play's real strengths, I particularly
liked the way the contrast is drawn between
his deep awareness of the ways in which
changes in skyscapes presage change in
weather patterns; and the ambivalence
articulated in some areas of contemporary
social life regarding climate change.'
I 'also liked the way in
which the Cumulus sections depicted the
lasting friendship between John Constable
and Edward (John) Fisher.'
SOCIOLINGUIST
MARILYN MARTIN-JONES


Congratulations on publishing the book
DR EBEN MUSE, READER IN BOOKSELLING,
BANGOR UNIVERSITY


DUST JACKET BACK FLAP

Climate, soils, vegetation were influential
parts of David Eagar's Birmingham Geography
degree. Then, in London there was a heady
mix of copy editing with Unilever's Barry Day,
the pure joy of playgoing at the new National
Theatre's Old Vic, living near Regent's Park,
and exposure to fine art galleries. Throw into
the mix a childhood spent among the raw
landscapes of Anglesey's west coast, and his
father's love of countryside, of Bernard Shaw,
and of Glyndebourne's early days.
John Constable's capacity to encapsulate
scenes and skies so engagingly came to David's
notice one evening in 1964 at a public lecture
in the Barber Institute of Fine Arts' Grade 1
Listed art deco building.
David's concerns around ecological balance
also sprang to life six decades ago.



DUST JACKET BACK COVER (part)

Climate has become a matter of attention, from extreme weather events to
statistics about how weather has been changing. The January 2025 global
temperature was nearly 0.1 degrees Celsius higher than the January 2024's
world record (EU Copernicus climate service). Its 1.75 Celsius above
pre-industrial levels is well above the international Paris Agreement target
to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5. On 6 February 2025, the BBC
reported scientists saying, in other words, it looks like the world's getting
hotter faster than was predicted.
Evidence for climate change was around before our present century. The
originator of this book, David Eagar, was aware of environmental issues for
decades. Retiring from a career mostly in countryside planning, he wanted
to find a dramatic way of illustrating one of our many environmental
challenges.
Two centuries ago, the British painter John Constable became supreme in
capturing the detailed complexity of skies. At its zenith, in 1820-22, was the
series of fifty paintings he made of skies seen from north London's
Hampstead Heath. David Eagar - and no relation of playwright David Edgar -
chose John Constable to be the principal character in this drama.
The 'Skying Years' is the name John Constable himself gave to those three
years. So exceptional and important, these paintings frequently feature in
exhibitions.
Here, in 'The Skying Years', we follow the artist as he and a friend devise a
weather game for children. In the second Part we are in the present day, in
the world of television production. All six 'characters', who really lived their
lives two centuries ago, return in our day in a drama set around some of the
many climate issues we are facing.

2026 is the 250th anniversary of John Constable's birth on 11 June 1776.
He and his wife Maria Bicknell are buried at St-John-at-Hampstead parish
chuch. Tate Britain have a major exhibition 'Turner and Constable: Rivals and
Originals', 27 November 2025 - 12 April 2026.