What The Butler Saw

‘What The Butler Saw' by Joe Orton

Carnon Downs Drama Group

Director: John Frankland

As seen by Kathy West on 4th October 2018

This play was performed on a proscenium stage, which for this group (who like to do things a bit differently) was quite unusual.  The set was well laid out, with a desk, bookcase and working sink stage right, and an entrance (from the garden) upstage right (which remained open).  Upstage there was an examination couch screened by a curtain.  It was at a good height to allow people behind it to stand on the couch and deliver lines over the top.  There were 3 working doors stage left which were well constructed, and opened and closed well.  In the final scene grilles dropped in front of the doors, together with flashing lights and an alarm sound.  The grille for the centre door did not drop fully.  I'm sure that this was just a first night glitch but it is worth remembering that when these things happen they are best left, as attempting to rectify the situation only serves to make it more noticeable to the audience.  The dropping of the rope-ladder and the skylight effect at the end of the play was unexpected and worked well.

The opening music was Procol Harum's 'Whiter Shade of Pale' which implied that this production was set in the period about which it was written (ie. the late 1960s).  However, there were no programme notes to confirm this, and I felt that the costumes and hair were rather too modern for that period.

Farce is probably the most difficult of genres to play.  The opening scenes need to be played with conviction, but with a heightened style, in order to render the ridiculous plot feasible.  In this production the actors attempted to inject pace from the very beginning by speaking fast.  Whilst this is admirable (especially in such a wordy play) it caused them at times to stumble over the words which interrupted the rhythm of the dialogue.  It also made it less easy to keep up with the exposition.  In a farce the pace needs to accelerate throughout, giving a sense of events spiralling out of control.  This production beautifully achieved the chaotic penultimate scene; bullets flying, trousers dropping, doors slamming etc.  There was for me, however, not enough of a gradual build towards this.  Because the actors started out at such a pace, they left themselves nowhere to go, and it was inevitable that the pace would drop at times.  Entrances, in particular in Act 1, could have been sharper, cutting into the onstage business, for example, the business of hiding the clothes in the flower vase.  Ideally, there needs to be more of a sense of the protagonist only just getting away with things and constantly having to adapt his plans as he goes along.  

Having said that, the actors did attack the script well and had obviously worked hard in rehearsal which resulted in them working well as a team.  The undressing on stage (always a difficult thing to do) was handled unselfconsciously.  The rising hysteria of Mrs Prentice, together with the bewilderment of Nicholas when he found himself in dress and wig, added much to the production.  The slaps of Mrs Prentice were not angled well so that we could clearly see that there was no contact (again, this may have been a first night issue).  I did admire the way the strait jackets were applied, which can't be easy when the subject is struggling on the floor!  Dr Rance was suitably cold, detached and self-centred, creating a good character.

Lighting was in keeping with the setting and sound effects were well cued.  Props were well-handled.  I was unsure about the suitability of the guns for the setting (although I am far from an expert on such things!) but they were used well.

I thank you for your invitation to this production.

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