Festival Theatre, Malvern – until 13 July 2024
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
4****
Joe Orton gives us a farcical evening to savour at Malvern Theatres with What The Butler Saw (from 1967).
The staggeringly inappropriate Doctor Prentice (John Dorney) encourages his proposed secretary Geraldine Barclay (Alana Jackson) during her job interview to strip off so that he can assess her suitability for the job. With the sudden appearance of his wife (the aptly named Mrs Prentice; Holly Smith) events rapidly unravel as the more he attempts to cover up the situation the more he’s tripped up by his own metaphorical dropped trousers. It transpires that Mrs Prentice has spent a far from innocent previous evening with a hotel employee, Nicholas Beckett (Alex Cardall). Dirty laundry aired and recriminations thrown around ramp up the tension but when the most unhinged character of the lot, Doctor Rance (Jack Lord), arrives to trouble us all with his unprofessional professional opinions… well, he’s the blender’s blade that whips up the great frenzy.
The entire cast was magnificent. Each producing a crescendo of emotional turmoil over the course of the evening, giving us a most mirthful watch. Miss Jackson (Geraldine) and Mr Cardall (Beckett) both deserve special bravery mentions for spending more time cavorting around in their underwear than any of the other characters – Michael Hugo (as police Sergeant Match) coming a close third. But all deserve massive credit for their timing (the key to making this style of comedy work) and relentless energy.
After a catalogue of disastrous misunderstandings, assumptions, mistaken identities, cross dressing, inept policework, even inepter psychiatric conclusions, the ineptest of excuses and general ludicrous buffoonery the whole sorry saga reached a satisfying conclusion (well, perhaps not satisfying haha – only time (and a sequel) will tell!). One thing is certain – it’s a lorra lorra fun and I’m still not sure where the butler of the title comes in…
The set was rather impressive, reminding one of a Monty Python animated interlude and the costumes were all very stylish too with many a ladies (and gents) gown providing glamour (and laughs). Kudos to Bek Palmer for providing such lush creations.
There’s many wince-worthy subjects explored – the type of situations that only occur in a late 60’s/early 70’s style farce. This is a joyous nudge-nudge wink-wink towards that era’s No Sex Please, We’re British type of, ahem, affair. Probably best not to think too deeply about it, just revel in the madness which is rather apt given the play’s setting. The programme provides some explanation of the writer’s intentions which makes the subject matter much more understandable; Mr Orton using the stage as a platform to shine a light on moral mores that were outdated and to chip away at the institutions that he saw as stuffy.
So, a very enjoyable comedy that is well worth seeing. It’s not quite Jimmy Carr territory but if you are very (very) easily offended you may wish to take a pillow to giggle behind. But if you need the sunlit uplands of some gently (and at times highly) inappropriate comedy then you can do a lot worse than tickets to this classic. Highly recommended. In fact, I’d love to see it again myself.