Ever fancied yourself in the role of Albert Steptoe, or is it the deeper pathos of Harold that appeals to the thespian in you ?!!
Now thanks to Ray and Alan and David Pibworth of www.classiccomedyscripts.co.uk your chance has come. The trio have been working on stage adaptations of the original TV scripts.
Licences to perform your version of Steptoe and Son are now available for theatre groups throughout the UK through the offices of Classic Comedy Scripts. Based in Milton Keynes, where it features at the towns Theatre of Comedy, this company has brought many of our best loved comedy shows to the stage.
Having had success in adapting previous comedy classics for the stage such as Allo Allo, Ripping Yarns and Fawlty Towers, David now feels the time is right to tackle the first and greatest of all British sitcoms, Steptoe and Son.
With the co-operation of Ray and Alan, David has already written stage versions of The Bird, Robbery with Violence, Cuckoo in the Nest and many more including one of the most popular episodes ever The Desperate Hours. These scripts are available under licence for all types of groups to perform from small amateur dramatic groups to repertory companies. Perhaps some people will get together and make an audio version for this website ?
David’s website www.classiccomedyscripts.co.uk gives full information on the project and details of how to put on your own version of Steptoe. Of course if you want to see how it should be done, you can go and see David and the Milton Keynes Theatre of Comedy productions of The Bird, The Desperate Hours and Oh, What a Beautiful Mourning at the Chrysalis Theatre, Camphill, Milton Keynes between 3 – 5 November 2011.
There are many more episodes for David still to adapt and it is easy to understand this will be a labour of love. In particular it will be interesting to see if and how he tackles the episode which is currently the most popular with visitors to this site, Divided we Stand. This is the classic episode where, fed up with the continual squalor at Oil Drum Lane, Harold decides to split the house in two. Now there is a challenge for any theatre company !!
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