Theatre News

Kneehigh & WYP bring Steptoe & Son to the stage this summer

Classic BBC comedy series Steptoe and Son is being turned into a stage show in a new collaboration between Kneehigh and West Yorkshire Playhouse.

Kneehigh’s artistic director Emma Rice will helm the production, which will premiere at the company’s Asylum base in Cornwall from 21 July 2012 before transferring to West Yorkshire Playhouse from 14 September ahead of a national tour.

The title roles, famously created on screen by Wilfrid Brambell and Harry H Corbett, will be played on stage by Kneehigh veterans Mike Shepherd (Albert) and Dean Nolan (Harold).

Director/adapter Rice, whose previous credits include Brief Encounter and Umbrellas of Cherbourg, said: “I’ve tried to enable and reveal the heart-breaking and perfectly observed characters that had generations glued to their TV’s for over a decade … It has been the chance of a lifetime to dive into such an iconic and important body of work.”