News: Paul Rider and John Sackville to star in Staircase at Southwark Playhouse

Two’s Company and Karl Sydow, in association with Tilly Films, are set to present Paul Rider and John Sackville in Charles Dyer’s Staircase. The production is set to run from 23 June to 17 July.

A West End and Broadway hit at its premiere in the late 60s, Staircase was last seen in London over half a century ago. A delightful comedy, the show follows Brixton hairdressers Charlie and Harry, who have been together for 20 years.

Quick humour and dreams keep them afloat but same-sex relationships are illegal and Charlie has been arrested in a pub while sitting on a man’s knee. Simmering underneath the banter and hilarious mockery, Charlie anxiously awaits a court summons and Harry has his own troubles – his hair is rapidly falling out, a disaster for a hairdresser.

Staircase stars Paul Rider (Chicago, A Woman of No Importance in the West End; French and Saunders, Dinnerladies on television) and John Sackville (Absolute Hell, An Inspector Calls for the National Theatre; The Crown on television). The show is directed by artistic director of Two’s Company, Tricia Thorns.

Running through this laugh-out loud comedy is the sadness of those unable to live openly because the law and the public condemn them to an undercover life. Change may be in the air but, for these two, 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.

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