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Stairway to Heaven

Written by Steve Hennessy
Directed by Chris Loveless

15 Jun 2010 to 10 Jul 2010
Blue Elephant Theatre, London

Cheops' Pyramid. Egypt. 2,700 B.C.

The biggest, most terrifying and dangerous construction site the world has ever known.

A hundred thousand men will haul two and a half million limestone blocks weighing a total of six million tons up a building the size of a skyscraper using nothing but human muscle.

On his first day working on the pyramid, one young man has to adapt quickly to a new life in a work gang where intense friendships and hatreds are forged in a feverish furnace of desert heat, brutal humour, backbreaking work, horrific accidents, drink, sex and death.

And as the ghosts of dead workmates and visions of Amun Ra the Sun God elbow their way into Makhthon's dreams, something strange is happening just out of sight, on the higher ledges of the pyramid, where the workers are never allowed.

Where does the stairway really lead?

This was our third co-production with London-based Fallen Angel Theatre, and with Simon James Collier, and our second outing to the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell. During the run of 'Stairway To Heaven', we were simultaneously part of the Vibrant Festival of New Writing at the Finborough Theatre in Earls Court where we presented a rehearsed reading of 'The Demon Box' on Friday 18th June. These two productions further raised our profile as a national company who perform regularly in London.

Show photos

© Michael Brydon

© Michael Brydon

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Cast

James French - Merab
James Ronan - Makhthon
Matthew Ward - Geb

Crew

Director - Chris Loveless
Design, Set and Costime - Ann Stiddard
Lighting Design - Chris Lince
Movement - Omar F. Okai
Music - Renell Shaw
Stage Management - Nadine Barr
Technician - Ben Tucker
Sound - Matt Hall
Photography - Michael Brydon

Reviews

"Beautifully short at just an hour long, and as far from the sex and cynicism in the city that preoccupies most modern plays about men in love, Stairway To Heaven is touching, strange and bravely original."
     Boyz Magazine