What the Butler Saw

RoughCast Theatre Company at The Fisher Theatre, Bungay

Review published in the Eastern Daily Press, 25 May 2007

What the Butler Saw

A controversial play about incest on a summer’s evening? Just what the doctor ordered.

A middle-aged psychiatrist is interviewing a young secretary. At once confusion, in and out entrances, dropped trousers and increasing madness takes over.

Written in the 1960s this is Joe Orton’s final play, some say his finest.

The plot gets thicker and more bizarre as twist follows improbability. And it gets funnier. Humour starts black and grows murkier and more sinister.

Given a riotous treatment by RoughCast Theatre, director David Green tackles his fisrt insane farce with an expert touch.

Simon Evans as the chief protagonist is a comic model of frantic lunacy. The young secretary is Becky Martin handling the innocent role well, while the wife, Yves Green, commands the stage effortlessly.

It’s a cast with potential in a play that is both slice of social history and a comic gem. Recommended.