Amazing performances and an incredible story about four Hollywood players at a cocktail party in 1950’s Hollywood make ‘The Code’ a must see.
Now playing at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until Oct. 11, 2025, ‘The Code’ stars John Partridge as the interior designer Billy Haines (and not decorator!), stage legend and Olivier Award winner Tracie Bennett as film star Tallulah Bankhead, a fantastic Nick Blakeley as agent Henry Wilson, and Solomon Davy as the good looking rising young film star Chad Manford.
The true story of Billy Haines has been told numerous times: he was a gay movie star but refused to pander to the Hollywood ‘code’ by marrying a woman to appear straight even though he had a longtime male partner. So Haines had to give up his successful movie career and instead became a very successful interior decorator. Bankhead was a famous actress in her day, however, she was a known lesbian so major role opportunities always seem to bypass her. Add in a cunning Hollywood agent sleeping with young actors on the premise of making them movie stars, and one such young actor who will do anything to become famous, and throw them all together in the same room over cocktails and what you have is a nail biting, unnerving and confrontational 90 minutes of superb theatre. Each of the four are challenged by each other in the trajectories and decisions in their lives, and writer Michael McKeever and director Christopher Renshaw keep the tension, and drama, very high throughout this show. Suffice it to say, without giving too much away, no one is left unscathed.
Bennett is absolutely terrific as Bankhead: her raspy voice, cigarette in one hand and a cocktail in the other, you can’t take your eyes off her. Partridge is very good as Haines, suited and booted and trying to be the host with the most, but it is Blakeley who has the showiest part. He’s cunning, clever and plays by his own rules, and gets what he wants – it’s a fantastic performance. And fresh faced Davy, as the young actor who has to make the hardest decision he’ll ever make in his life, nails it.
At ninety minutes, it all goes by in a flash right in front of you in the intimate Southwark Playhouse. ’The Code’ is one of the best plays of the year, and you’ll surely not want to miss it!
Photo by Danny Kaan