The Dark at the Top of the Stairs

The Dark at the Top of the Stairs is a 1957 play by William Inge about family conflicts during the early 1920s in a small Oklahoma town.

After she learns that her husband might be having a romantic relationship with another woman, she plans to leave the marriage and move in with her sister.

Meanwhile, their shy daughter prepares for her first dance and their pre-teen son takes refuge from bullies in a scrapbook of movie stars.

Directed by Elia Kazan, the play opened December 5, 1957 at New York's Music Box Theatre and ran for a total of 468 performances, closing on January 17, 1959.

The drama was reworked by Inge from his earlier play Farther Off from Heaven, first staged in 1947 at Margo Jones' Theatre '47 in Dallas, Texas.

L. to R.: Timmy Everett , Eileen Heckart and Frank Overton in a scene from the stage production The Dark at the Top of the Stairs