Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane, Monday, November 13 until Saturday, November 18, Theatre Royal Bath.
Two of television's greatest characters, Harold and Albert Steptoe, are packing up their rag-and-bone cart and heading off to the Theatre Royal Bath in the hilarious new play, Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane, by the TV programme's original creator Ray Galton and fellow comedy writer John Antrobus, based on the TV series created and written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson.
Following an acclaimed West End run at London's Comedy Theatre, the whirlwind of non-stop laughs tours to Bath next week as the original West End leading actors reprise their much loved roles: Jake Nightingale (Harold) "the living embodiment of Harry H Corbett" (Daily Mail), and Harry Dickman (Albert) "superbevery bit as filthy and disgusting as one had hoped" (Daily Telegraph).
The time is somewhere in the future. The Steptoe house is in the caring hands of the National Trust as the last remaining example of a typical totters yard.
Albert is long dead - killed in a fit of pique by Harold, who has done a bunk to South America to escape being sentenced to the loony bin.
But now, some years later, he slips back into the country to revisit the scene of the crime. Only to discover the ghost of Albert waiting for his return In a "witty and loving tribute" (Metro), Harold and Albert are once again at each other's throats as we get the full, unexpurgated account of their hilarious relationship from cradle to the grave and beyond.
"People will come to this show expecting to see them climb the comedic heights scaled by Harry H Corbett and Wilfrid Brambell. Miraculously, they do achieve this, capturing every nuance, tick, gesture and you dirty old man' of the original pairing. But Nightingale and Dickman are more than just a pair of impersonators - they are both very fine comic actors." - The Stage One of the original script writers, Ray Galton, has joined with Spike Milligan's collaborator, John Antrobus, to take audiences back to the rag-and-bone men's yard in Oil Drum Lane for a last trip down memory lane.
Between them, Ray Galton and John Antrobus have written for some of Britain's best-known comedy actors of the last fifty years including Spike Milligan, Tony Hancock, Peter Sellers, Les Dawson, Sid James, Frankie Howerd, Marty Feldman, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.
Steptoe and Son in Murder at Oil Drum Lane is directed by Roger Smith, whose numerous credits on stage include the award winning Duet for One (Duke of York Theatre), Steaming (Comedy Theatre), The Understanding (with Ralph Richardson and Celia Johnson, Strand Theatre), Dario Fo's Trumpets and Raspberries (Phoenix Theatre) and When Did You Last See Your Trousers? written by Ray Galton and John Antrobus (Garrick Theatre).
- For a review of Carousel, appearing at the Theatre Royal Bath this week and performed by the Bath Light Operatic Group, log on to www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/wiltshiretimesleisure
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