Taking Steps
Encyclopedia
Taking Steps is a 1979 play by British playwright Alan Ayckbourn
. It is set on three floors of an old and reputedly haunted house, with the stage arranged so that the stairs are flat and all three floors are on a single level. It is primarily about Elizabeth, who keeps changing her mind on whether to leave her husband Roland.
Unlike most of Ayckbourn's plays, which are written for the round
but are easily adapted for the proscenium
, Taking Steps is considered to be a play that only works effectively in the round. Whilst the original Stephen Joseph Theatre
production was staged this way, the subsequent West End transfer was an end-stage performance which was said to compromise the effectiveness of the three-floor setting. As a result, the eventual transfer to Broadway
in 1991 and the return to London in 2010 both used theatres in the round. (There is also said to have been an end-stage production of Taking Steps that actually did create a three-storey house on stage.)
The play takes play over two acts, both with continuous action. The first act takes place one evening, and the second act takes place the following morning.
(then at its old Westwood site) in Scarborough on 28 September 1979 with the following cast:
The production team were:
, due to concerns of overexposure, doubts that a cast with high-profile names would be as effective as the ensemble casts normally used at Scarborough, and partly a feeling that West End audiences were used to his earlier comic plays and not his newer darker plays. However, Ayckbourn's regular producer Michael Codron
persuaded him to go ahead with a London production, and this took place at the Lyric Theatre on 2 September 1980 with the following cast:
Following the lack of success of the West End productions of Ten Times Table and Joking Apart
, Michael Codron did not allow Ayckbourn to direct Taking Steps, and instead brought in Michael Rudman
, then Peter Hall
's deputy at the National Theatre
.
, over a decade after the UK première, at the Circle in the Square Theatre
on 20 February 1991 with the following cast:
The director was Alan Strachan.
with Ayckbourn directing again and Michael Gambon
as Roland. It was further revived in 2010 at the Orange Tree Theatre
in Richmond, London, just over a year after Ayckbourn stepped down as Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre.
Taking Steps has also had numerous performances from other theatre companies. It has also enjoyed success abroad; it was reported by The Stage
that, with 462 performances, it was the most performed play in Germany in 1982.
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
. It is set on three floors of an old and reputedly haunted house, with the stage arranged so that the stairs are flat and all three floors are on a single level. It is primarily about Elizabeth, who keeps changing her mind on whether to leave her husband Roland.
Characters
There are six characters in the play:- Elizabeth: Central character: Former dancer, retired as a result of marriage; now in perpetual indecision about leaving her husband
- Roland: Elizabeth's older unappreciative husband; alcoholic
- Mark: Elizabeth's brother, attempting to save his one-sided relationship to Kitty
- Kitty: Arm-twisted into engagement with Mark; now neurotic and going off the rails
- Leslie: Dodgy builder, attempting to sell the house to Roland
- Tristram: Leslie's solicitor; inarticulate and unassertive, and unwittingly causes absolute havoc
Setting
The play is set in a dilapidated Victorian three-storey country house, reputed to be haunted. However, all three floors are represented on stage at a single level, with the actors' movements between the floors expressed through mimed movement up and down flat staircases. This means that the downstairs living room, upstairs master bedroom and attic bedroom all occupy the same space, with actors frequently next to each other when their characters are on different floors in the story. (Stage exits lead to other off-stage rooms.)Unlike most of Ayckbourn's plays, which are written for the round
Theatre in the round
Theatre-in-the-round or arena theatre is any theatre space in which the audience surrounds the stage area...
but are easily adapted for the proscenium
Proscenium
A proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
, Taking Steps is considered to be a play that only works effectively in the round. Whilst the original Stephen Joseph Theatre
Stephen Joseph Theatre
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain....
production was staged this way, the subsequent West End transfer was an end-stage performance which was said to compromise the effectiveness of the three-floor setting. As a result, the eventual transfer to Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1991 and the return to London in 2010 both used theatres in the round. (There is also said to have been an end-stage production of Taking Steps that actually did create a three-storey house on stage.)
The play takes play over two acts, both with continuous action. The first act takes place one evening, and the second act takes place the following morning.
Scarborough première
Taking Steps was premièred at the Stephen Joseph TheatreStephen Joseph Theatre
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain....
(then at its old Westwood site) in Scarborough on 28 September 1979 with the following cast:
- Elizabeth - Alison Skilbeck
- Roland - John Arthur
- Mark - Robin Herford
- Tristram - Robin Bowerman
- Leslie - Jeffrey Robert
- Kitty - Lavinia Bertram
The production team were:
- Director - Alan AyckbournAlan AyckbournSir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
- Music - Paul Todd
London première
Ayckbourn reportedly had reservations about transferring the production to the West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
, due to concerns of overexposure, doubts that a cast with high-profile names would be as effective as the ensemble casts normally used at Scarborough, and partly a feeling that West End audiences were used to his earlier comic plays and not his newer darker plays. However, Ayckbourn's regular producer Michael Codron
Michael Codron
Michael Victor Codron is a British film and theatre producer, known for his productions of the early work of Harold Pinter, Christopher Hampton, David Hare, Simon Gray and Tom Stoppard...
persuaded him to go ahead with a London production, and this took place at the Lyric Theatre on 2 September 1980 with the following cast:
- Elizabeth - Nicola PagettNicola PagettNicola Pagett is an English actress. She is best-known for her role as Elizabeth Bellamy in the 1970s TV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs.-Early life:She was educated at St...
- Roland - Paul ChapmanPaul Chapman (actor)Paul Chapman is a British actor who made his acting debut back in 1964 in the TV series Curtain of Fear. He was born in Hampstead, London in 1939 and is the brother of British play-write John Chapman and nephew of actor Edward Chapman Paul Chapman is a British actor who made his acting debut back...
- Mark - Michael MaloneyMichael MaloneyMichael Maloney is an English actor.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series, Telford's Change....
- Tristram - Dinsdale LandenDinsdale LandenDinsdale James Landen was a British actor known mainly for his television appearances.Landen was born at Margate. He made his television debut in 1959 as Pip in an adaptation of Great Expectations and made his film debut in 1960, with a walk-on part in The League of Gentlemen...
- Leslie - Richard Kane
- Kitty - Wendy Murray
Following the lack of success of the West End productions of Ten Times Table and Joking Apart
Joking Apart
Joking Apart is a BBC television sitcom written by Steven Moffat about the rise and fall of a relationship. It juxtaposes a couple, Mark and Becky , who fall in love and marry, before getting separated and finally divorced...
, Michael Codron did not allow Ayckbourn to direct Taking Steps, and instead brought in Michael Rudman
Michael Rudman
Michael Rudman is an American theatre director.In 1960, he graduated from Oberlin College cum laude in Government and in 1964 he received an MA in English Language and Literature at Oxford where he was President of the Oxford University Dramatic Society....
, then Peter Hall
Peter Hall
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall, CBE is an English theatre and film director. Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company and directed the National Theatre , and has been prominent in defending public subsidy of the arts in Britain.-Early years:Hall was born at Bury St...
's deputy at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
.
New York première
The play was eventually premièred on BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, over a decade after the UK première, at the Circle in the Square Theatre
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre in midtown Manhattan on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza building.The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann and Jose Quintero in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village...
on 20 February 1991 with the following cast:
- Elizabeth - Christopher Benjamin
- Roland - Jonathan HoganJonathan HoganJonathan Hogan is an American actor.Born in Chicago, Illinois, Hogan made his New York City stage debut in the off-Broadway Circle Repertory Company's highly successful production of Hot L Baltimore...
- Mark - Pippa Pearthree
- Tristram - Jane SummerhaysJane SummerhaysJane Summerhays is an American actress known for her work on stage, screen, and film. Her television credits include guest roles on One Life to Live, All My Children, Tales from the Darkside, Working It Out, The Cosby Mysteries, New York News, Law & Order, Sex and the City, and Ed...
- Leslie - Bill Buell
- Kitty - Spike McClure
The director was Alan Strachan.
Other performances
Ayckbourn has revived the play himself on two occasions. In 1990, with a relatively short period after the ill-fated London production, it was revived at the Stephen Joseph TheatreStephen Joseph Theatre
The Stephen Joseph Theatre is a theatre in the round in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England that was founded by Stephen Joseph and was the first theatre in the round in Britain....
with Ayckbourn directing again and Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
as Roland. It was further revived in 2010 at the Orange Tree Theatre
Orange Tree Theatre
The Orange Tree Theatre is a 172-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south west London, built specifically as a theatre in the round....
in Richmond, London, just over a year after Ayckbourn stepped down as Artistic Director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre.
Taking Steps has also had numerous performances from other theatre companies. It has also enjoyed success abroad; it was reported by The Stage
The Stage
The Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
that, with 462 performances, it was the most performed play in Germany in 1982.