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:

Shane Morgan - 24 January 2013

Galton and Simpson are often referred to as the founding fathers of television sitcom. With Masters of Comedy such as Tony Hancock, Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Spike Milligan and Frankie Howerd under their belt, the comedy writing industry have a lot to thank Ray and Alan for.

Steptoe and Son had its origins in a one off comedy written for TV. Eight series later, it became one of the BBC’s greatest successes. Here, Emma Rice from Kneehigh revisits the original scripts and has produced a stage version of the classic show.

We are told in the programme notes that Rice has used four episodes that act as a “spine or map” for the production. What quickly becomes clear is that rather than being a map, it dictates the framework and turns out to be four episodes adapted for the stage rather than one story or an arc for the characters.

This framework presents problems. Rice has chosen four memorable and classic episodes that in the structure of the series proved to be...

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