What The Butler Saw

By Joe Orton

Synopsis:

Psychoanalyst Dr Prentice is having a bad day. His attempted seduction of a new secretary is being thwarted by his wife, who in turn is being blackmailed by an upwardly-mobile hotel page. To cap it off there’s a government inspector at loose in the asylum and a police sergeant is hunting for parts of a statue of Sir Winston Churchill.
You’re in a madhouse. Unusual behaviour is the order of the day. (Dr Rance, Act 2)

As misunderstandings and confusion grow, anarchy gradually engulfs the asylum. Cross-dressing becomes the order of the day, drugs and straitjackets appear and shots are fired. Collective desperation reaches fever-pitch but however much the six characters lose the plot, their wits or their clothes, their verbal self-possession never deserts them.
Geraldine: We must tell the truth!
Prentice: That’s a thoroughly defeatist attitude. (Act 1)

Finished shortly before Orton’s death in 1967, What the Butler Saw mixes the bizarre and the commonplace to hugely comic effect. Staying true to the tradition of classic British farce, the play contains enough outrageous twists and turns, mishaps and changes of fortune, coincidences and lunatic logic to furnish any number of conventional comedies whilst revealing a thoroughly up-to-date take on hypocrisy, gender confusion, and the power of professionals.

Whilst some audiences were outraged when it was first performed, What the Butler Saw has now been accepted as “a comedy classic of English literature" (Sunday Telegraph)

A top-class ensemble of Next Stage actors are delighted to be making their first foray into the world of Joe Orton with this unmissable play.

WARNING: This play contains adult themes.

Pre-show supper, £15, available Thursday - Saturday at 6pm. Please see menu below.

This show was performed at The Mission Theatre, Bath in May 2011.

Supper menu:

That-style root vegetable casserole
or
Crunchy-topped savoury squash and fennel bake
or
Peaches in raspberry and port sauce
or
Custard Tart with nutmeg pastry
or
Teas and coffees to finish.

Director/s | Cast:

John Matthews

Director

Steve Leanaghan

Dr Prentice

Yvonne Paulley

Geraldine Barclay

Alison Paine

Mrs Prentice

Luke Nicholson

Nicholas Beckett

George Gent

Dr Rance

Mike James

Sergeant Match

Review/s of What The Butler Saw:

Review 1: Next Stage launches an Orton revival

Many people have thought for some time that Joe Orton's work is ripe for a 21st century revival. So Bath's Next Stage Theatre Company is ahead of the game with its revival of Joe's last full length play What the Butler Saw which was first performed in 1969 two years after he was murdered. A Freudian farce, it was a huge box office success although some audiences were shocked by its explicit discussions…click here to read the whole review.

By Christopher Hansford, Bath Chronicle

Review 2: Chronicle Review

Sex, nudity, incest and cross-dressing - they’re all in Joe Orton’s 1960s comedy aplenty. The gay playwright, who was famously bludgeoned to death by his jealous lover in 1967, provided a cocktail of ingredients that was guaranteed to shock and challenge the establishment of the period. Written as a dark farce, the play is set in a private mental hospital and revolves around all manner of deceptions…click here to read the whole review.

By Jackie Chappell, Bath Chronicle

Show and rehearsal photographs: