What The Butler Saw, by Joe Orton

AuthorJoe Orton

Joe Orton was born in Leicester in 1933 and his childhood was not a particularly happy one. Although not especially poverty stricken, his childhood could nevertheless be described as drab, uninspiring and violent. A clever child, young Joe passed the 11+ exam to go to grammar school but persistent ill health meant that his schooling was sporadic and he failed his exams.

Orton set his sights on attending RADA after enjoying his experience on-stage in amateur dramatics. At the age of 18, he joined the Academy where he met Kenneth Halliwell, the man who was to become his friend, his collaborator, his lover and tragically, his murderer.

Orton and Halliwell wrote a number of unsuccessful works together but achieved bizarre notoriety in 1962 when they were convicted and imprisoned for the seemingly innocuous crime of defacing library books. The court passed down a harsh, 6-month sentence for what was ostensibly a prank. However, in an age where homosexuality was still illegal, the fact that the prank included pasting semi-erotic pictures on to covers of what they considered to be 'very dull' books probably influenced the judiciary. Orton later commented that they had been persecuted harshly because they had been discovered to be gay men openly living together.

While for Halliwell, prison was a soul-destroying experience, for Orton, it seemed to be the making of the playwright in him. In his own words, "I tried writing before I went into the nick...but it was no good. Being in the nick brought detachment to my writing...suddenly it worked."

After a number of unsuccessful minor works, Entertaining Mr Sloane was Orton's first major script but the play received mixed response when it opened in 1963. In later venues however, it was voted Best New British Play by Variety's London Critics, moved to Broadway and Orton had his first taste of major success.

In 1966, Orton began again to write a diary (something he had started earlier in life). These later chapters, whilst being a frank and open account of his life, are also well-crafted literary works. They record, among other things the difficulties he experienced in his relationship with Halliwell, but give no clue that the nature of his death at the age of 34, could have been foreseen. The facts of the matter are that in August 1967, Halliwell killed him by repeatedly hitting him about the head with a hammer. Halliwell then took his own life with an overdose and 2 lives and a promising career were brought to an untimely end.

Joe Orton's published work consists of three stage plays, four short radio/TV plays, a screenplay and a novel.

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PlayWhat The Butler Saw

'What the Butler Saw', was Joe Orton's final play. Completed in July 1967 (less than a month before his death) it was first staged in March 1969 (nearly 2 years later) which was also the year that Bench Theatre was formed.

Audiences were both shocked and appalled at the overt sexual references and lack of respect for authority and morality. Indeed, the first performances were greeted with shouts of "filth". Now regarded as Orton's finest play it is considered by many as a contemporary classic and by some as one of the funniest plays ever written.

This classic farce is set in a private psychiatric clinic and the resulting confusion, lost and mistaken identities, nymphomania, transvestism, incest, blackmail and bribery all conspire to provide a play with all the frantic pace, dropping trousers, doors opening and British humour that you could want. Orton uses the newly found freedoms of the decade to take a surreal look at the world around him, fusing witty word-play with a lunatic zeal that wouldn't be out of place in 'Monty Python'.

Awards

1970 Obie award for the best off-Broadway foreign play in New York.

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The Bench Production

Characters

Dr Prentice	Peter Corrigan
Geraldine Barclay	Sian Green
Mrs Prentice	Sarah Parnell
Nicholas Beckett	Jack Cronin
Dr Rance	Peter Woodward
Sergeant Match	Dan Finch

Crew

Director	Mark Wakeman
Assistant Director	Lorraine Galliers
Producers	Sally Hartley and Jo Wakelin
Stage Manager	Zoe Chapman

Listen to the show trailer as broadcast on Angel Radio.

Review: What The Butler Saw

There's a mind-set to Joe Orton's work that makes me think he died at exactly the right time. I suspect the novelty of his plays wouldn't have lasted much beyond his three great pieces, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot and What The Butler Saw, all peopled with grotesques, filled with stylised language and peppered with Orton's biting, satiric but ultimately challenging and uncomfortable wit.

The last of these – What The Butler Saw – is The Bench's latest performance and generally it's fine stuff.

Mark Wakeman (also – at this performance – brilliantly playing protagonist Dr Prentice) certainly stamps his mark on the piece as both director and actor with a fine, mania-ridden performance.

As his wife, the Zoe Wannamaker-esque Sarah Parnell excels in expression and timing and Sian Green and Jack Cronin provide able comic support as the youngsters.

Peter Woodward's Dr Rance is a fine creation, but his often-speedy delivery leads, sometimes, to the ends of words and phrases being swallowed. Dan Finch completes the cast as the bewildered sergeant of police.

As-black-as-the-gates-of-hell hilarious, an Orton is always worth seeing.

James George, Portsmouth News

Review: Comic fantasies of psychiatric diagnosis!

This is the final production from Bench Theatre's 40th anniversary year, in which they have produced a selection of pieces depicting each decade. 'What the Butler Saw' was written by Joe Orton in 1969, the year this theatre company was formed, and at the time this anarchic farce both shocked and appalled with its sexual references and lack of respect for morality and authority. Over time this has now become a contemporary classic.

The plot is set in a mad house, a private psychiatric clinic run by the lustful Dr Prentice, interviewing an incredibly naive Geraldine Barclay for the position of secretary. Asking her to strip naked and lie on the couch, his attempted seduction is thwarted by the appearance of his nymphomaniac wife, who is being blackmailed by the hotel bellboy producing photos of their entanglement the previous night! Add to this the surprise investigation from a Government Inspector a crackpot psychiatrist Dr Rance and you have a recipe for farcical madness ~ absurd lines, mistaken identities, cross-dressing, door slamming, dropped trousers...!

Due to Peter Corrigan's sudden admission to hospital, Director Mark Wakeman at the last minute had to step into his shoes and play the part of Dr Prentice, and what an incredible job he did too. A superb performance and barely evident that he carried his script. His performance brilliantly illustrated the doctor’s improbable dilemmas of incrimination and mistaken identity. Mention too for a relative newcomer to the company Sarah Parnell (Mrs Prentice) who was outstanding with her amusing air of aloof superiority in the face of such insanity alongside her seductive charms. Peter Woodward (Dr Rance) took on the challenging role of this virtually certifiable character!

All in all an extremely entertaining performance where "the sane appear as strange to the mad as the mad to the sane"!

Jill Laurie, RemoteGoat.co.uk

Review: What the Butler Saw, Bench Theatre

An ordinary day at a private psychiatric practice descends into chaos with mistaken identi-ties, gender confusion and sex-shenanigans when the psy-chiatrist interviews his prospective secretary by attempting to seduce her; fine lines between sanity and madness, doctor and patient, and man or woman quickly start to blur.

Peter Corrigan (reminiscent of a cross between Frankie Howerd and Simon Callow) was highly entertaining, bluster-ing and leering his incorrigible way through the mayhem. Sarah Parnell was also excel-lent as his wife, the perfect ‘straight woman’ as his foil, showing great skill with visual humour and ideal timing.

Anne Waggott, Southampton Daily Echo, November 28th 2009

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Rehearsal Photographs

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