What the Butler Saw (play)

What the Butler Saw is a two-act farce written by the English playwright Joe Orton. He began work on the play in 1966 and completed it in July 1967, one month before his death. It opened at the Queen's Theatre in London on 5 March 1969. Orton's final play, it was the second to be performed after his death, following Funeral Games in 1968.

Plot summary

; Characters

Dr Prentice
Geraldine Barclay
Mrs Prentice
Nicholas Beckett
Dr Rance
Sergeant Match

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 in a job interview, during which he persuades her to undress. The situation becomes more intense when Mrs Prentice enters, causing the doctor to hide Geraldine behind a curtain.
His wife, however, is also being seduced and blackmailed, by Nicholas Beckett. She therefore promises Nicholas the post as secretary, which adds further confusion, including Nicholas, Geraldine and a police officer dressing as members 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 is held aloft in the climactic scene.

Productions

Premiere

The original production, having toured briefly from January 1969, opened in the West End at the Queen's Theatre on 5 March. Presented by Lewenstein-Delfont Productions Ltd and H. M. Tennent Ltd, it was directed by Robert Chetwyn and designed by Hutchinson Scott.
; Cast

Stanley Baxter – Dr Prentice
Julia Foster – Geraldine Barclay
Coral Browne – Mrs Prentice
Hayward Morse – Nicholas Beckett
Ralph Richardson – Dr Rance
Peter Bayliss – Sergeant Match

Stage revivals

1) A revival at London's Royal Court Theatre, directed by Lindsay Anderson, opened in July 1975 and transferred to the Whitehall Theatre the following month.
; Cast

Michael Medwin – Dr Prentice
Jane Carr – Geraldine Barclay
Betty Marsden – Mrs Prentice
Kevin Lloyd – Nicholas Beckett
Valentine Dyall – Dr Rance
Brian Glover – Sergeant Match

2) A revival in April 1977 at Leicester's Phoenix Arts Centre was directed by Antonia Bird. She realised that the last line of the play had been given to the wrong character, and by referring to Orton's handwritten manuscript was able to give it back to the correct character.
3) A revival at London's Hampstead Theatre, directed by John Tillinger, opened in November 1990 and transferred to the Wyndham's Theatre in January 1991.
; Cast

Clive Francis – Dr Prentice
Camille Coduri – Geraldine Barclay
Sheila Gish – Mrs Prentice
Ben Porter – Nicholas Beckett
Joseph Maher – Dr Rance
Gary Olsen – Sergeant Match

4) The play was revived in 1994 at The Royal Exchange Theatre, directed by Robert Delamere, and ran from 7 April to 7 May.
; Cast

David Horovitch – Dr Prentice
Kate Winslet – Geraldine Barclay
Deborah Norton – Mrs Prentice
Neil Stuke – Nicholas Beckett
Trevor Baxter – Dr Rance
Billy Hartman – Sergeant Match

5) In 1995, a Royal National Theatre production of the play premiered in February at the RNT's Lyttelton Theatre and then went on tour prior to returning to the RNT repertoire. Phyllida Lloyd directed the play.
; Cast

John Alderton – Dr Prentice
Debra Gillett – Geraldine Barclay
Nicola Pagett – Mrs Prentice
David Tennant – Nicholas Beckett
Richard Wilson – Dr Rance
Jeremy Swift – Sergeant Match

6) There was a further revival in 2012 at the Vaudeville Theatre, directed by Sean Foley, which ran from 16 May to 25 August.
;Cast

Tim McInnerny – Dr Prentice
Georgia Tennant – Geraldine Barclay
Samantha Bond – Mrs Prentice
Nick Hendrix – Nicholas Beckett
Omid Djalili – Dr Rance
Jason Thorpe – Sergeant Match

7) A 2017 production directed by Nikolai Foster was a co-production between the Curve Theatre, Leicester and the Theatre Royal, Bath.
;Cast

Rufus Hound – Dr Prentice
Dakota Blue Richards – Geraldine Barclay
Catherine Russell – Mrs Prentice
Jack Holden – Nicholas Beckett
Jasper Britton – Dr Rance
Ravi Aujla – Sergeant Match

Television

In 1987 the play was adapted for BBC2's Theatre Night series. First transmitted on 24 May, it was produced by Shaun Sutton and directed by Barry Davis.
; Cast

Dinsdale Landen – Dr Prentice
Tessa Peake-Jones – Geraldine Barclay
Prunella Scales – Mrs Prentice
Tyler Butterworth – Nicholas Beckett
Timothy West – Dr Rance
Bryan Pringle – Sergeant Match

Channel 4's Blow Your Mind – See a Show series included a short extract from the play. Featuring Brian Cox as Dr Prentice, Frances Barber as Mrs Prentice and Clive Owen as Nicholas Beckett, it was transmitted on 18 September 1995.