Taking Steps

Taking Steps
a farce by Alan Ayckbourn, 13-17 July 2010

Taking Steps is a farce by popular English dramatist Alan Ayckbourn. It starts with a 'Dear John' letter that falls into the wrong hands, progresses through a romance with a ghost and a girl locked in a cupboard with a gurgling water tank, and involves the challenge of putting a three-storey house into the Bridewell Theatre.

Dancer Elizabeth thinks she’s taking steps towards leaving her husband, Roland. Roland thinks he’s taking steps towards buying a house to live in with her. Elizabeth’s brother, Mark, thinks he’s taking steps towards getting back together with his former fiancée, Kitty. Kitty doesn’t know which way to step at all.

When a 'Dear John' letter falls into the wrong hands and one of the main players gets locked in a cupboard for the night, no one’s taking quite the steps they intended.

“I love the way Ayckbourn challenges dramatic convention, especially settings,” says director James Newall.

“I read an interview where Ayckbourn explained about the first play he was commissioned to write for Sir Peter Hall, which required several locations in a small venue. As with Taking Steps, he found a novel way to solve the problem!

“Taking Steps is one of Ayckbourn’s less well known plays — I’m hoping to spring a few surprises. The script is fast and the action frenetic. I knew at the read-through we had struck gold and both cast and production team have been full of ideas.”

Taking Steps Gallery

Taking Steps Trailer

Cast Interviews

Throughout rehearsals the cast and director will be revealing all about the play in a series of interviews. Watch the latest interview below, or CLICK HERE to visit the Sedos Video channel and follow the entire series.