Tracie Bennett, John Partridge, Solomon Davy and Nick Blakeley are now on stage in The Code, which is running at Southwark Playhouse Elephant until Saturday, October 11, 2025.
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?
Bennett stars as Tallulah Bankhead, with Partridge as Billy Haines, Davy as Chad Manford and Blakeley as Henry Willson.
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.
Tickets here.
Top image: Full Cast – credit Steve Gregson (image supplied)