Steptoe and Son

Synopsis

Two Men. Two World Wars. Two lives knitted together as tight as a thrice darned sock. Bound together by birth, business and bloody bad luck, Albert and Harold Steptoe wake up every morning to the same old, same old, sickening sight of each other. Joined at the hip and heart, they bother, bicker and banter their way through life - toying with each others frailties like mean kittens. Do they even notice the world turning as they cling on? There are ladies if they would only look around them, and space travel... and Cliff Richard! "Open your eyes" we shout from the stalls! "Look up at the moon and count the stars!" But they can't. Or won't. Families, eh?

Our Review:

John Dixon - 12 March 2013

I am a great admirer of Kneehigh and still recall their brilliant production of Brief Encounter. So I expected high things from Steptoe and Son and while admitting a lot of the audience seemed (after a slow start) to quickly embrace the production, it was only well into the second half that I started to enjoy the show.

Being of an age where Steptoe and Son can still be recalled, with its iconic leads, does not help, as no matter what happens on stage you still remember the TV (and film) personas of Harold and Albert Steptoe. They were so well written and cast that they will live on for years (despite the TV show ending in the 1970’s.)

Likewise the recent tours of Dad’s Army recaptured the TV show by being brilliantly cast so it was if the TV show had once more come to life. But this is not the idea here and with Kneehigh you would not expect it to be.

The play runs for two hours (including interval) and uses four Ray Galton and Alan Simpson scripts as it ba...

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