Comedy, Staircase, returns to the stage at Southwark Playhouse

Not seen in London for more than half a century, Staircase by Charles Dyer was a West End and Broadway hit at its premiere in the late 1960s.

Now Southwark Playhouse is shining a light on this wonderful comedy.

Starring Paul Rider and John Sackville the show tells the story of Charlie and Harry, who are hairdressers in Brixton in the early 1960s 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.

Running through the comedy is the sadness of those unable to live openly because the law and the public condemn them to an undercover life.

Staircase, which runs from June 23 to July 17, is a call for a more accepting and generous society, where love is love and that love is championed in all its forms.