Theatre Royal, Windsor – until Saturday 11 May 2024
Reviewed by Joanna Huggett
3***
Let me first tell you that the show we went to see tonight, is probably not going to be to everyone’s tastes. The play was written in the late 60’s and was put on the stage a few years after the writer’s death, so it was probably considered quite a ground breaking play at the time to be openly lambasting society’s norms and sexist attitudes through a situational comedy. I suspect that the sad demise of this decorated playwright probably added some weight to whether the play should have been put on or not at all at the time. But in the present day, you might not find the avalanche of misogynistic themes relying on crude and somewhat schoolboy comedy, quite so easy to endure. There were times we laughed, and then felt embarrassed for doing so. Nevertheless, we did go see it and here’s my review.
The play was written by Joe Orton and takes place entirely within the confines of the surgery run by Dr Prentice, played by John Dorney. The surgery is the central room from which all doors lead to unseen parts of the mental institution that Dr. Prentice oversees. We next meet Geraldine Barclay, played by Alana Jackson, interviewing for the role of Dr Prentice’s secretary and later by Mrs. Prentice, played by Holly Smith, a self-confessed nymphomaniac – despite the lack of any close relations with Dr. Prentice – and the story of workplace sexual misconduct ensues. Next a government medical inspector, Dr. Rance, played by Jack Lord, joins the melee and pretty much takes the helm of the play and steers it down a series of slap-stick situations of dubious intents and personal goals. To complete the first act, we are joined by the hotel porter from which Mrs. Prentice has returned. The porter, Nicholas Beckett, played by Alex Cardell, also has a back-story naturally consisting of sexual conquests and improper workplace behaviours. And finally police sergeant Match Rowden, played by Jon-Paul Rowden who is investigating an even more convoluted plot involving a certain unmentionable part of Winston Churchill’s statue – gone missing of course.
At some point during the evening, the conveyor belt of actors joining the party and delivering yet more twists and sub-plots to the Carry-On meets Monty-Python merry go round, has to come to an end, and that conveyor belt stops with the end of Act one. Act two delivers no more actors but just as many new twists to the sordid and inappropriate sexual goings on within a mental institution that you did not imagine possible.
This particular form of comedy might not be to everyone’s taste. But the set design was striking, befitting of any Monty-Python sketch, and the acting was truly superb, especially Jack Lord, playing the government inspector, who’s individual script must have been delivered to him by fork lift truck.
If it was the late 1960’s then perhaps the subject of these jokes would have amused you and given you reason to think about those situations back in the real (1960’s) world. So think of it in those terms and maybe you can enjoy an evening of slap-stick old-school humour, delivered by some exemplary actors. Oh, and just one more thing, there’s another
even more uncomfortable twist coming right at the end too.
PS: There’s no butler ???