First look at Staircase in rehearsals at Southwark Playhouse with John Sackville and Paul Rider

A first look at rehearsals of Charles Dyer’s Staircase at Southwark Playhouse has been revealed.

Paul Rider and John Sackville will star in the two-hander which will run at the London venue this summer between 23 June and 17 July.

Back in London for the first time in 50 years, Staircase by Charles Dyer was a West End and Broadway hit at its premiere in the late ‘60s.

Two’s Company, who excels at bringing back forgotten masterpieces, is proud to shine a light on this wonderful comedy with direction by the Artistic Director of Two’s Company, Tricia Thorns.

It’s the early 1960s. Charlie and Harry are hairdressers in Brixton and 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.

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.

Tickets are priced from £14 can be purchased online at www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk