The Ruffian on the Stair

The Ruffian on the Stair

The Ruffian on the Stair is the first play Joe Orton ever wrote. Rarely performed, this production set in a sordid bedsit has been described as ‘dripping with menace’ and ‘compelling’.

Mike and Joyce are a poor London couple living in a bedsit. Mike is an ex-boxer living on the dole who makes extra cash by running people down for money, and Joyce is an ex-prostitute.

It is an unsympathetic yet comedic one-act portrayal of working class England, as played out by a couple and a mysterious young man who toys with their lives. It was based on The Boy Hairdresser, a novel by Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell.

Sun 4 Jun 2023, 9:00PM