The poster tells you that WHAT THE BUTLER SAW, which is at the Swansea Grand right now, is a manic farce, which will perhaps give you the impression you’re about to see an old school Brian Rix style production. Yes, it is a farce, but throw out any preconceived ideas you might have. This production is far from conventional.
A bit of context might help before you head along to see the show. It was written by JOE ORTON, shortly before he was beaten to death by his lover back in 1967. Joe was renowned for shocking his audience with his visual and vocal take on life, and all these years later, there are moments in What the Butler Saw that will make you gasp.
You need to remember when this was written and huge kudos to London Classic Theatre for keeping the story pretty much as it was meant to be. It is manic, risqué, daring and more than a little rude. I stress again, in the context of the time it was written.
Today, many of the things said, and done on stage could be frowned upon, but to properly deliver Joe’s play the way it was meant to be, you have to stick to the original text.
That said, what we had was a couple of hours of the most Python-esque madness you could imagine. Everything from Dr Prentice (JOHN DORNEY) a psychiatrist trying to seduce his secretary (ALANA JACKSON). His sexually bored wife (HOLLY SMITH) who is getting it on with a much younger hotel page boy (ALEX CARDALL). There’s also the arrival of Psychiatric Inspector Dr Rance (JACK LORD) and what farce would be complete without a Police Sergeant, played last night by MICHAEL HUGO. There is also a little part of Winston Churchill which makes an appearance, but that is for those of you who get along to see the show.
When you arrive in the auditorium it’s the beautifully designed set which will prepare you for what’s about to come. BEK PALMER has created something seemingly simple but as the play progresses more of the hidden gems of the set reveal themselves, adding to the manic humour of the plot.
The story centres on Dr Prentice and his wife, who almost catches him ‘in the act’. In an attempt to cover his tracks, the semi-naked secretary becomes a patient, the good Doctor’s wife is confronted by the page boy she seduced at the hotel. The medical inspector arrives, with a penchant for sedating anything that moves and somewhere along the line a policeman comes on the scene trying to find said page boy, who also dresses as the secretary, and retrieve parts of Winston Churchill which have gone missing from the town square.
Now if that isn’t the start of a damn good farce then I don’t know what is.
But actually, beneath all the nakedness, double entendres, and sometimes inappropriate behaviour, there is a story which seems to reflect the life of writer Joe Orton. All the things which troubled Joe are here – sexual identity, mental health and equality, all seem to point to what made Joe the dark and brilliant storyteller he was.
You really do have to keep your wits about you. From the very start the action is fast and furious, while you’re watching some cleverly choreographed moment on stage, and there are many of them, it’s sometimes hard to concentrate on the dialogue, but you very quickly get into the rhythm and it all comes together.
There are some stand out performances from a terrific cast. While the focus is on Dr Prentice and his wife, it’s actually Dr Rance who begins to steal the show as he slowly descends into madness himself.
Mention too for Police Sergeant Match who delivers some real laugh out loud moments as his drug induced character staggers across the stage in various states of undress.
Over the years some big hitters of stage and screen have tackled this show, David Tennant, Omid Djalili and Samantha Bond. The cast we have on stage in Swansea easily match what has gone before in what is a frantic, funny, demanding and still relevant play.
It would be wrong of me not to alert you to the fact that some of what you’ll see is definitely not for the faint hearted. Be in no doubt that the play is at times shocking. It may be more than half a century old but it still takes a broadminded audience to appreciate the nature of the humour.
It treats sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour as if it were just one of those things. But as shocking as it sometimes is, I couldn’t help but feel it serves as a reminder of just how far society has come, but actually, how much further our journey of change is.
WHAT THE BUTLER SAW is at the Swansea Grand for just two more performances today at 7:30pm and tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm. It may be
