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John Dorney as Doctor Prentice and Alana Jackson as Geraldine Barclay. Pictures: Sheila Burnett What the Butler Saw Malvern Theatres **** What the Butler Saw is a very clever and neatly constructed example of the Absurd Theatre – an angry and yet very funny reflection of a writer who was an anarchic product of a society that in the sixties kicked over the traditional values and beliefs of our historic culture. In a world that was rejecting traditional taboos, Joe Orton set out to shock, to satirise the Establishment, The Church, historic attitudes to sex and relationships. He was the archetypal ‘angry young man’. Dr Prentice (John Dorney) is a psychiatrist in private practice who is looking to employ a new secretary. An innocent young lady called Geraldine Barclay (Alana Jackson) arrives for an interview in which he sets out to seduce her, but his scheme is interrupted by the premature return of his wife (Holly Smith) from a trip and a stay at The Station Hotel where she says she was raped by Nicholas Beckett (Alex Cardall), one of the chamber staff. Dr Prentice tries to hide the presence of his prospective and now naked secretary from her attention. Into this chaos Dr Rance arrives to inspect the psychiatric practice on behalf of the Commission. Exaggerated characters, improbable situations and mistaken identities are indeed the elements of traditional farce. There are echoes of Charlie’s Aunt, The Importance of Being Earnest and many other such farces. This play has some hilarious moments as the consulting room of the psychiatrist becomes itself the centre of insanity rather than its solution. Dr Rance grows increasingly wild in his conduct, his diagnoses of insanity in all of the characters around him, and his own manic and scary outbursts.
Holly Smith as Mrs Prentice and Alex Cardall as Nicholas Beckett This very wittily and cleverly constructed piece brings us all ‘into land’ with almost predictable revelations about the characters, their relationships and past. But the madness we have witnessed and been immersed in for two hours provides a vehicle through which the angry young Orton can voice his critique of all traditions, values and meaning. This production is very well acted, designed and directed. The set with its cut-outs, collaging and Pop Art style, designed by Bek Palmer, is complimented by Hector Murray’s lighting with a few brilliant moments. The pace and energy of the show is well managed. The cast sustain and indeed increase their heightened performances as the madness accelerates. Jack Lord as Doctor Rance grew in manic unreality and menace as the production unfolded and was especially strong. Michael Hugo as Sergeant Match was hilarious in his drugged condition. Generally the team worked hard and gave strong performances. This play is not for the young, innocent and sensitive. The hilarious and farcical lines and scenes convey the anger and bitterness of a writer whose life was tragically ended by his lover at the age of 34. What the Butler Saw runs at Malvern to Saturday 13th July. Tim Crow 21-07-24 |
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