Photo Flash: TAKING STEPS Opens Tonight at Stephen Joseph Theatre

A play widely regarded as Alan Ayckbourn's funniest, and his one true farce, Taking Steps, joins the programme at the Stephen Joseph Theatre this month. Check out photos from the show below!

When tongue-tied solicitor Tristram is sent along to oversee the sale of a large and crumbling house, he may have bitten off more than he can chew: hardware tycoon Roland Crabbe and scheming builder Leslie Bainbridge are not the easiest of clients. Roland's wife Elizabeth is on the brink of leaving him with the help of her brother Mark and his shrinking-violet fiancée Kitty. Misunderstandings multiply and play out in every corner of the three-storey house.

Alan Ayckbourn says: "Farce is the most difficult thing to write because it has to be a riot from beginning to end. Taking Steps is a difficult piece to handle, and I like a challenge - it requires the most delicate balance and the steadiest of hands to work.

"I think it's one of the sillier plays I've written; it's nice to be silly occasionally!"

Taking Steps features a cast of six: Russell Dixon, AnTony Eden, Laura Matthews, Laurence Pears, Louise Shuttleworth and Leigh Symonds.

The creative team comprises designer Kevin Jenkins, who has recently designed several productions with Alan at the SJT, including The Karaoke Theatre Company, Consuming Passions and No Knowing; lighting designer Jason Taylor, who has worked on many productions at the SJT.

Taking Steps can be seen in the Round at the SJT, in rep, from Thursday 13 July to Thursday 5 October. Tickets, priced from £10 to £25, are available from the box office on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com.

Photo credit: Tony Bartholomew