Its stage origins are sometimes too obvious but the endless succession of one-liners and absurdities define the staff of an asylum who are definitely qualified to be inmates. The philandering psychiatrist is caught trying to seduce his new secretary- who is also being pursued by the police who want to retrieve an intimate part of Winston Churchill's statue -which may have been embedded in her mother's body after a terrorist outrage. In addition, the psychiatrists' wife is pursued by a page boy who has porn pictures of her and wants a job as her husband's secretary. Enter a Government Inspector:'I represent the Department of Health, your immediate superiors in lunacy...' played with tongue-in cheek pompousness by Timothy West. The deeply embattled Psychiatrist, portrayed by the late Dinsdale Landen, persuades the various characters to cross dress to confuse the inspector- and then there is his wife- a nymphomaniac who regards her husband as a token lesbian.... Need I say more? You have to watch to appreciate this weird slant on traditional farce!
3 Reviews
Gloriously Anarchic Farce set in a Mental Home
l_rawjalaurence21 February 2016
When WHAT THE BUTLER SAW premiered in London in 1969, two years after Joe Orton's violent death, the reaction was predictably outraged. As Dr. Rance, Ralph Richardson appeared terribly uncomfortable; one audience member exclaiming "Oh, Sir Ralph, how could you!" as they noisily left the theater. Despite his undoubted talents, Baxter could not rescue the show as it closed after a short run.
Watching this THEATRE NIGHT production, we might wonder what all the fuss was about. The subject-matter is certainly contentious, with an extended joke about Sir Winston Churchill's missing member, coupled with repeated references to sex and sexuality; but the play as a whole is joyously anarchic, as Joe Orton takes a Jonsonian pleasure in debunking contemporary attitudes towards mental health, psychiatry, homosexuality, transvestism, marriage and melodrama, amongst other things.
The cast thoroughly enjoy themselves with dialogue that can only be described as deliciously Wildean in tone. As Dr. Prentice, the late lamented Dinsdale Landen begins the production with an air of total self-assurance as he asks his tyro secretary Geraldine Barclay (Tessa Peake-Jones) to remove her clothes prior to seducing her. As the action unfolds, so his attitude changes as he finds himself overwhelmed by circumstances. Timothy West's Dr. Rance is quite obviously insane, but he delivers his lines with such ringing conviction that no one has the stomach to challenge him. The two female leads, Peake-Jones and Prunella Scales, spend a large part of the production in a state of déshabillé, but this seems perfectly reasonable in a performance where reason and unreason have been crazily subverted. Bryan Pringle turns in a bewildered cameo as Sergeant Match, even though his boxer shorts seem way too big for him.
Shot on video-tape in a single set, Barry Davis's production relies a lot on clever camera-work and effective performances to entertain viewers. There are some wonderful moments - especially when Nicholas Beckett (Tyler Butterworth) is caught in flagrante delicto with only a police officer's helmet to protect his modesty. The camera cuts to a shot taken from behind a fish-tank, as we watch Beckett running off-screen so as to escape further embarrassment.
WHAT THE BUTLER SAW takes a bit of getting used to, especially for those not conversant with Orton's work, but yields rich rewards, especially for broad-minded viewers.
Watching this THEATRE NIGHT production, we might wonder what all the fuss was about. The subject-matter is certainly contentious, with an extended joke about Sir Winston Churchill's missing member, coupled with repeated references to sex and sexuality; but the play as a whole is joyously anarchic, as Joe Orton takes a Jonsonian pleasure in debunking contemporary attitudes towards mental health, psychiatry, homosexuality, transvestism, marriage and melodrama, amongst other things.
The cast thoroughly enjoy themselves with dialogue that can only be described as deliciously Wildean in tone. As Dr. Prentice, the late lamented Dinsdale Landen begins the production with an air of total self-assurance as he asks his tyro secretary Geraldine Barclay (Tessa Peake-Jones) to remove her clothes prior to seducing her. As the action unfolds, so his attitude changes as he finds himself overwhelmed by circumstances. Timothy West's Dr. Rance is quite obviously insane, but he delivers his lines with such ringing conviction that no one has the stomach to challenge him. The two female leads, Peake-Jones and Prunella Scales, spend a large part of the production in a state of déshabillé, but this seems perfectly reasonable in a performance where reason and unreason have been crazily subverted. Bryan Pringle turns in a bewildered cameo as Sergeant Match, even though his boxer shorts seem way too big for him.
Shot on video-tape in a single set, Barry Davis's production relies a lot on clever camera-work and effective performances to entertain viewers. There are some wonderful moments - especially when Nicholas Beckett (Tyler Butterworth) is caught in flagrante delicto with only a police officer's helmet to protect his modesty. The camera cuts to a shot taken from behind a fish-tank, as we watch Beckett running off-screen so as to escape further embarrassment.
WHAT THE BUTLER SAW takes a bit of getting used to, especially for those not conversant with Orton's work, but yields rich rewards, especially for broad-minded viewers.
hilarious and naughty Orton classic
didi-53 June 2010
Joe Orton's most controversial play was not received well when originally premiered but is now rightly seen as a classic. A farce which takes place in a lunatic asylum and which combines mistaken identity, insanity, transvestism, sexual perversion, a crumbling marriage and an intimate part of a Winston Churchill statue, this version is played with a sure hand and perfectly cast.
Geraldine Barclay (Tessa Peake-Jones) has been sent by an agency to apply for a job as secretary to Dr Prentice (Dinsdale Landen), a frustrated psychiatrist with a nymphomaniac wife (Prunella Scales) who despises him. Circumstances mean that Geraldine has to be hidden from the view of a government inspector, Dr Rance (Timothy West), who has his own theories about how the asylum should be run. Added to this Mrs Prentice has narrowly escaped being raped by a hotel call boy, Nicholas Beckett (Tyler Butterworth) who is now trying to extract money to reunite her with her clothes. And there's a token police inspector, Sgt Match (Bryan Pringle) who has a particularly useful helmet.
As farces go, this has a lot of action and some delightfully dirty one-liners, and that is before we even start to consider that Winston Churchill connection. With such skilled players in the cast, this really couldn't fail and is very entertaining. As (I think) the only film version of What The Butler Saw it is a valuable document, and highly recommended.
Geraldine Barclay (Tessa Peake-Jones) has been sent by an agency to apply for a job as secretary to Dr Prentice (Dinsdale Landen), a frustrated psychiatrist with a nymphomaniac wife (Prunella Scales) who despises him. Circumstances mean that Geraldine has to be hidden from the view of a government inspector, Dr Rance (Timothy West), who has his own theories about how the asylum should be run. Added to this Mrs Prentice has narrowly escaped being raped by a hotel call boy, Nicholas Beckett (Tyler Butterworth) who is now trying to extract money to reunite her with her clothes. And there's a token police inspector, Sgt Match (Bryan Pringle) who has a particularly useful helmet.
As farces go, this has a lot of action and some delightfully dirty one-liners, and that is before we even start to consider that Winston Churchill connection. With such skilled players in the cast, this really couldn't fail and is very entertaining. As (I think) the only film version of What The Butler Saw it is a valuable document, and highly recommended.
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