Tracie Bennett, John Partridge, Solomon Davy and Nick Blakeley are now in rehearsals for The Code, which opens at Southwark Playhouse Elephant on September 12.
The show stars Bennett as Tallulah Bankhead with Partridge as Billy Haines, Davy as Chad Manford and Blakeley as Henry Willson.
The Code lays bare the unspoken rules of Hollywood, then and now: a world where image still shapes opportunity, where authenticity is curated and identity remains politicised. Hollywood, 1950. A fading star. A rising one. An agent with an agenda. And a legend who’s seen it all.
Tallulah Bankhead – magnetic, mercurial, and unapologetically sharp-tongued – stops in for a cocktail at the home of former screen idol turned interior designer Billy Haines, who may – or may not – be planning to disappear from the town he once ruled.
Enter power agent Henry Willson and his all-too-perfect protégé Chad Manford, setting the room alight. In a world where image is everything, and identity must be carefully edited to survive, can any of them break “the code” without losing everything?
The Code is written by Michael McKeever, directed by Christopher Renshaw and produced by Jim Kierstead with set and costume design by Ethan Cheek , lighting design by Jack Weir and casting by Nicholas Hockaday.
It plays at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from September 12 – October 11, 2025. Tickets here.
Top image: L-R Nick Blakeley, Tracie Bennett, Solomon Davy and John Partridge in rehearsals for The Code. Credit Danny Kaan (all images supplied)