My wife is a nymphomaniac. Consequently like the Holy Grail, she is ardently sought after by young men. The audience reaction to Churchill's last stand was probably the most interesting feature of the first night. Joe Orton had to submit to the Lord Chancellor in his day, whereas Bench director Jo German can tie up the end of this modern production by invoking, without shame, the best traditions of classical comedy. "What the Butler Saw" continues tonight and tomorrow and from Tuesday to Saturday next week. 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. The Good and Faithful Servant was a transitional work for Orton. A one-act television play completed by June 1964 but first broadcast by Associated-Rediffusion on 6 April 1967. The Erpingham Camp, Orton's take on The Bacchae, written through mid-1965 and offered to Rediffusion in October of that year, was broadcast on 27 June 1966 as the 'pride' segment in their series Seven Deadly Sins. Our modern world has moved far beyond the ideas of sexuality explored in this play and our problems on that front are now much more complex. However, we struggle more than ever with the fine line between crazy and sane. Especially now when there's literally a pill for everything. The emphasis would have been there if were written today, and would have worked.

What The Butler Saw Written by Joe Orton - Bench Theatre What The Butler Saw Written by Joe Orton - Bench Theatre

The play consists of two acts - though the action is continuous - and revolves around a Dr Prentice, a psychiatrist attempting to seduce his attractive prospective secretary, Geraldine Barclay. The play opens with the doctor examining Geraldine in a job interview, during which he persuades her to undress. The situation becomes more intense when Mrs Prentice enters, causing the doctor to hide Geraldine behind a curtain. Dr. Prentice tries to listen to Geraldine and ask the right questions. She tells him that she doesn’t know who her real parents are, and it’s always bothered her. Dr. Prentice thinks she’s had a terrible time, but he takes advantage of this. He tells her that she’s an ideal candidate for the job, but the interview has a few stages. Intrigued, Geraldine keeps listening. Joe Orton was born John Kingsley Orton on January 1, 1933, into a working class family in Leicester, England. Orton's father earned little as a gardener for the city, and his mother's extravagant taste ensured that the family was almost always in debt. Orton's parents fought continually, and there was little affection within the family; writing in his adolescent journal, Orton always put the word "family " in quotation marks. I read this one only because of a set of pictures I ran across one day featuring an actor I admire, taken when he was very young and performing in this play. And I simply had to know what the hell was happening in this play for those pictures to be taken. The production was done in the days before YouTube; and anyway YouTube recordings of plays--especially whole plays-- are relatively rare. So the only choice I had was to read the thing, and miraculously I could do that through our library. Do I recommend this book? Yes. But I do, genuinely, think that this book has had somewhat a negative impact on my mental health. At least in the short term. My mind feels like it's melting and drooping around in some what of brainy splurgy goo.A revival at London's Royal Court Theatre, directed by Lindsay Anderson, opened in July 1975 and transferred to the Whitehall Theatre the following month. [4] Cast

Butler Saw by Orton Joe - AbeBooks What the Butler Saw by Orton Joe - AbeBooks

In the cinemas the 'Carry On' series was at its peak in the Talbot Rothwell scripted era (also the writer of the classic series 'Up Pompeii') proving that Britain's love of saucy humour and innuendo was strong. (The films were frequently in the top five box office films of the year and for several years were THE number one box office draw which is something often forgotten!) As well as all this we had 'That Was The Week That Was', 'Beyond the Fringe', 'Not Only But Also' and Spike Milligan's 'Q' series.This classic farce is set in a private psychiatric clinic run by Dr Prentice. He is trying to avoid the attentions of the inspector, Dr Rance and at the same time, both interview and seduce the young and impressionable Geraldine Barclay.

What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton | Goodreads What the Butler Saw by Joe Orton | Goodreads

This year for us, in the Bench, has been an epic journey spanning five decades. The idea to perform a play from each decade of the company's existence as a celebration of our 40th anniversary has allowed us to do what we do best, present exciting and challenging theatre. It has also allowed us the opportunity to present a world premiere of a play written specifically for our 'State of the Nation' theme. Also medical professionals taking advantage of their power is just too close to reality in the present. The original production, having toured briefly from January 1969, [2] opened in the West End at the Queen's Theatre on 5 March. Presented by Lewenstein-Delfont Productions Ltd and H. M. Tennent Ltd, it was directed by Robert Chetwyn and designed by Hutchinson Scott. [3] Cast Peter Corrigan (reminiscent of a cross between Frankie Howerd and Simon Callow) was highly entertaining, blustering and leering his incorrigible way through the mayhem. Sarah Parnell was also excellent as his wife, the perfect 'straight woman' as his foil, showing great skill with visual humour and ideal timing. 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.Thank you for continuing to support local theatre, without you we and groups like us would not be able to continue to bring the best in world theatre to the local stage. So keep on coming... and bring all your friends too!!!!

Author of What The Butler Saw - crossword puzzle clues

I don't usually read plays for fun. I love seeing plays, and I should do more of it, but reading them...it's sort of like being on a literary diet, where all you are offered to eat is tough lean meats and veggies. You eat them, and are still hungry. And because it's diet food, it all needs salt and barely tastes like anything. On 9 August 1967, Orton's lover Kenneth Halliwell bludgeoned 34-year-old Orton to death at his home in Islington, London, with a hammer and then committed suicide with an overdose of Nembutal tablets. Investigators determined that Halliwell died first, because Orton's body was still warm. Orton was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium, his coffin brought into the chapel to The Beatles song "A Day in the Life". Harold Pinter read the eulogy saying "He was a bloody marvellous writer." What the Butler Saw is a two-act farce written by the English playwright Joe Orton. He began work on the play in 1966 and completed it in July 1967, one month before his death. [1] It opened at the Queen's Theatre in London on 5 March 1969. Orton's final play, it was the second to be performed after his death, following Funeral Games in 1968.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.