A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

What the Butler Saw

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  2w, 4m

Joe Orton

What the Butler Saw
by Joe Orton

"Hilarious, outrageous [...] It dazzles! [...] Wonderfully verbal, toying with words as if they were firecrackers." - The New York Times

What the Butler Saw

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 4m
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Farce, Period

Details

Summary
Dr. Prentice, a psychiatric doctor in an exclusive private clinic, is attempting to interview (and seduce) an attractive would-be secretary, Geraldine. Unwittingly surprised by his wife, he hides the girl. The affairs multiply as Mrs. Prentice, being seduced and blackmailed by young bellhop Nicholas Beckett, has promised him the secretarial post. When a government inspector arrives, chaos, underpants, and cross-dressing lead the charge. The final tableau reveals “the missing parts of Winston Churchill” held aloft as the curtain falls. The London premiere at the Queen's Theatre in 1969 starred Coral Browne and Sir Ralph Richardson. The New York production later won the Obie Award for Best Foreign Play of the season.
M4 (middle age)
F2 (young, middle age)
  • Time Period Contemporary
  • Setting A room in a private clinic

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
    Performance rights for this title are currently withdrawn in the UK. To be informed as soon as it becomes available in the future, please submit a license application.

Scripts

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Authors

Joe Orton

Joe Orton
Joe Orton (1933 – 1967) was born John Kingsley Orton in Leicester and from the age of two, lived on the Saffron Lane council estate. After winning a scholarship to RADA in 1951, he met Kenneth Halliwell, an actor and writer seven years his senior. Halliwell would become Orton ...
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