WHAT THE BUTLER SAW
By Joe Orton
Director: Nick Pearce
Producer: Emma Black
Stage Manager: Roisin Hanratty
Costume: Phoebe Sparrow
and Jennie Eggleton
Publicity: Georgia Sharp
Backstage Crew: Sophie Paulden
Dr Prentice: Rory Greenfield
Geraldine: Naomi Stafford
Mrs Prentice: Nicola Wall
Nick: Oli Forsyth
Dr Rance: Ed Attrill
Sergeant Match: Liam Mulvey
DIRECTOR'S NOTE.
Theatre must always be challenging. It must always be at the forefront of exploring the depths of the soul, and the entire spectrum of human emotion. As a director I feel the constant need to push the boundaries of theatre, and my own theatrical development to achieve this. This was my principle reasoning for choosing a play revolving around naked, bleeding, sexually insatiable drunkards. It has been a favourite play of mine for many years, which made it an obvious choice after my first two choices’ rights were not available. A wonderful cast made my vision of this Freudian wet-dream become reality. I always encourage my actors to act better, but as the trick to acting is in the casting this became less of an issue. Ed’s part-time work as a gigolo made him ideally suited to such a play. Rory dropping out of university gave him the perfect absence of alternative to commit. Nicola and Naomi could comfort each other, dreading the moment when curtain goes up and clothes come off. Oli and Liam, however, distracted themselves from impatience to do so by constantly comparing underwear at frequent intervals. There’s never been a rehearsal period like it.
REVIEW - LEEDS STUDENT NEWSPAPER
by David Hayes
Forget Jagerbombs - tonight The Faversham conservatory plays host to Joe Orton’s controversial farce, depicting the absurd events that take place during one day in the consulting room of Dr Prentice, a struggling psychiatrist.
The opening action sees the scheming doctor interrupted by his wife as he attempts to seduce his potential secretary, the wide-eyed Geraldine Barclay. Barclay’s naivety is portrayed perfectly by Naomi Stafford, who thrives as the helpless victim throughout – her regular protests of innocence forever lost in the confusion.
The sex-obsessed Mrs Prentice, finely played by Nicola Wall, fails to catch her husband in the act as she has other things on her mind. Little does her husband know that she has also been the victim of seduction and is subsequently being blackmailed by the young porter Nick. Oli Forsyth’s portrayal of the loveable rogue is energetic and suitably naïve. Nick likes to think he’s in control, but soon arrives out of his depth – a transition that is handled comically and professionally by Forsyth. Liam Mulvey’s comically bemused police sergeant is then thrown into the mess, ending up passed out on the floor having taken an overdose, wearing a nighty, and suffering from a gunshot wound in the leg.
Nick Pearce seems to have got the best out of a talented cast. Rory Greenfield’s Dr Prentice is thoroughly convincing. The audience are drawn to a man who works so hard to escape from the mess he’s constantly creating that there seems to be no end. His exasperated attempts to resolve the continual confusion, and subsequent relief at the resolution of the play, is superbly portrayed by Greenfield and offers genuinely funny moments throughout.
Greenfield excels particularly alongside Ed Attrill’s Dr Rance, the medical inspector sent by the government to assess Prentices’ clinic. Convinced that he is the only sane occupant of the house, Rance takes it upon himself to solve the confusion and is, fittingly, the most insane of them all. Ed Attrill is brilliantly casted in this role and certainly impresses. His controlled expression and skilled timing hold the cast together during what is at all times a busy script. His sharp deliveries provide the funniest moments of the play.
‘What The Butler Saw’ has great fun attacking social conventions, authority figures and definitions of gender, right down to the existence of the family itself. Psychiatry in particular is relentlessly ridiculed. The pace of the show is fast throughout, and the few moments at which it does stutter, particularly in the latter scenes, have more to do with a lack of space than with the superb direction of Nick Pearce. Pearce manages the staging of his cast brilliantly - a tough job when working with a script of such high tempo, and the actors themselves assure the effect of Orton’s classic with the key ability to deliver absurd lines as if nothing is out of the ordinary.
by David Hayes
Forget Jagerbombs - tonight The Faversham conservatory plays host to Joe Orton’s controversial farce, depicting the absurd events that take place during one day in the consulting room of Dr Prentice, a struggling psychiatrist.
The opening action sees the scheming doctor interrupted by his wife as he attempts to seduce his potential secretary, the wide-eyed Geraldine Barclay. Barclay’s naivety is portrayed perfectly by Naomi Stafford, who thrives as the helpless victim throughout – her regular protests of innocence forever lost in the confusion.
The sex-obsessed Mrs Prentice, finely played by Nicola Wall, fails to catch her husband in the act as she has other things on her mind. Little does her husband know that she has also been the victim of seduction and is subsequently being blackmailed by the young porter Nick. Oli Forsyth’s portrayal of the loveable rogue is energetic and suitably naïve. Nick likes to think he’s in control, but soon arrives out of his depth – a transition that is handled comically and professionally by Forsyth. Liam Mulvey’s comically bemused police sergeant is then thrown into the mess, ending up passed out on the floor having taken an overdose, wearing a nighty, and suffering from a gunshot wound in the leg.
Nick Pearce seems to have got the best out of a talented cast. Rory Greenfield’s Dr Prentice is thoroughly convincing. The audience are drawn to a man who works so hard to escape from the mess he’s constantly creating that there seems to be no end. His exasperated attempts to resolve the continual confusion, and subsequent relief at the resolution of the play, is superbly portrayed by Greenfield and offers genuinely funny moments throughout.
Greenfield excels particularly alongside Ed Attrill’s Dr Rance, the medical inspector sent by the government to assess Prentices’ clinic. Convinced that he is the only sane occupant of the house, Rance takes it upon himself to solve the confusion and is, fittingly, the most insane of them all. Ed Attrill is brilliantly casted in this role and certainly impresses. His controlled expression and skilled timing hold the cast together during what is at all times a busy script. His sharp deliveries provide the funniest moments of the play.
‘What The Butler Saw’ has great fun attacking social conventions, authority figures and definitions of gender, right down to the existence of the family itself. Psychiatry in particular is relentlessly ridiculed. The pace of the show is fast throughout, and the few moments at which it does stutter, particularly in the latter scenes, have more to do with a lack of space than with the superb direction of Nick Pearce. Pearce manages the staging of his cast brilliantly - a tough job when working with a script of such high tempo, and the actors themselves assure the effect of Orton’s classic with the key ability to deliver absurd lines as if nothing is out of the ordinary.
