Search

Saved articles

You have not yet added any article to your bookmarks!

Browse articles

GDPR Compliance

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Service.

Staircase

 
Richard Beck Review by Richard Beck 3 Published: 30 Jun 2021 Southwark Playhouse - Borough Show Dates: 23 Jun 2021-17 Jul 2021

The Southwark Playhouse has been transformed into an authentic 1960’s barbershop for the revival of Charles Dyer’s hit play Staircase, by Two’s Company and Karl Sydow in association with Tilly Films.

Sackville and Rider keep the banter flowing apace

Alex Marker’s set creates that ‘wow’ response upon entering the auditorium. The black and white chessboard floor fills the space and two dark red period barber’s chairs, along with a trolley of hairdressing implements, stand proudly on it. The sink and the mirror are there and giving a nudge to the nature of the place, photographs of gay icons with immaculate haircuts form a gallery wall. Marlon Brando, James Dean and Clark Gable are to be found amongst several others. To this is added some significant music from Sound Designer Dominic Bilkey, starting with the ominous There may be trouble ahead, which turns out to be something of an understatement.

Charlie (John Sackville) and Harry (Paul Rider) are hairdressers in Brixton. They’ve been together for twenty years, living under the shadow of laws that made their relationship unlawful. Charlie is awaiting a court summons following his arrest in a pub for sitting on a man’s knee and propositioning a police officer. It’s not his first such brush with the law and his stress becomes increasingly manifest. Harry, meanwhile, is helpless as he watches his hair fall out and contemplates his future as a bald barber. There is very little more to this scant plot.

The substance of the play focuses on the claustrophobic relationship between Charlie and Harry who live and work together on the premises, along with Harry’s mother who occupies the attic. It’s something of a miracle that they have stayed together for so long given that they are in a state of perpetual fault-finding and forever bickering. Sackville and Rider keep the banter flowing apace, with the balance of power alternating between them as they go from impassioned rants, to melancholy reminiscences and into flurries of vitriol. They are well matched in a piece of artful casting

Director Tricia Thorns has made a valiant effort to bring life to this play which resonated far more strongly in the years before the passing of the Sexual Offences Act, 1967, and subsequent legislation that decriminalised certain homosexual acts. There are some delightful period touches when the guys enjoy pink marzipan rolls and Battenberg cake with tea poured from a brown crock pot into floral and yet more pink china cups with gold rims. However, the relentless exchanges between the couple become somewhat wearisome as the second act moves on and there is no more storyline to develop.

Staircase is a fine example of the style and issues that are found in much 60’s drama and as such it is of historic significance, but like so much from that period it probably hasn't aged too well.

Related to this article:

Location:

Performances

The Blurb:

It’s Brixton in the early 1960’s. Same-sex relationships are illegal. Charlie and Harry are hairdressers who have been kept together for 20 years by quick humour and dreams. Charlie has been arrested in a pub while sitting on a man’s knee. He anxiously awaits a court summons. Harry has his own troubles – his hair is rapidly falling out. Running through this comedy is the sadness of those unable to live openly; condemned by the law and the public to an undercover life. Change may be in the air but for them it  might as well be a hundred years away. Staircase is a clarion call for a more accepting and generous society; for a world where people can be who they are in their hearts; where love is love and that love is championed in all its forms.