Original language English Place premiered Queen's Theatre | Date premiered 5 March 1969 First performance 5 March 1969 | |
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Subject a couple succeed in extracurricular seductions and frantically try to hide their conquests Setting an examination room in a private clinic Characters Mrs Prentice, Geraldine Barclay, Sergeant Match, Dr Rance, Nicholas Beckett, Dr. Prentice Similar Joe Orton plays, Farce plays, Other plays | ||
What the butler saw by joe orton
What the Butler Saw is a farce written by the English playwright Joe Orton. It was premièred at the Queen's Theatre in London on 5 March 1969. It was Orton's final play and the second to be performed after his death, following Funeral Games the year after.
Contents
Plot summary
The play consists of two acts—though the action is continuous—and revolves around a Dr. Prentice, a psychiatrist attempting to seduce his attractive prospective secretary, Geraldine Barclay. The play opens with the doctor examining Geraldine Barclay in a job interview. As part of the interview, he persuades her to undress. The situation becomes more intense during Dr. Prentice's supposed "interview" with Geraldine Barclay when Mrs Prentice enters. When his wife enters, he attempts to cover up his activity by hiding the girl behind a curtain. His wife, however, is also being seduced and blackmailed by a Nicholas Beckett. She therefore promises Nicholas the post as secretary, which adds further confusion, including Nicholas, Geraldine and a police officer dressing as a member of the opposite sex.
Dr. Prentice's clinic is also faced with a government inspection, led by Dr. Rance, which reveals the chaos in the clinic. Dr. Rance talks about how he will use the situation to develop a new book: "The final chapters of my book are knitting together: incest, buggery, outrageous women and strange love-cults catering for depraved appetites. All the fashionable bric-a-brac." A penis ("the missing parts of Sir Winston Churchill") is held aloft in the climactic scene.
Stage
The original production was staged at the Queen's Theatre by Lewenstein-Delfont Productions Ltd and H. M. Tennent Ltd and opened on 5 March 1969. The production was directed by Robert Chetwyn and designed by Hutchinson Scott.
Television
The play was adapted for BBC2's Theatre Night series, first transmitted on 24 May 1987, produced by Shaun Sutton, and directed by Barry Davis.
Channel 4's Blow Your Mind – See a Show series included a short extract from the play. Featuring Brian Cox as Doctor Prentice, Frances Barber as Mrs Prentice, and Clive Owen as Nicholas Beckett, it was transmitted on 18 September 1995.
Revival
The play was revived in 1994 at The Royal Exchange Theatre, directed by Robert Delamere and run from 7 April to 7 May.
There was a further revival in 2012 at the Vaudeville Theatre, directed by Sean Foley, which ran from 16 May to 25 August.
There was a 2017 production direced by Nikolai Foster at the Curve Theatre in Leicester.