Information for Play reading / Casting Night
What the Butler Saw
By Joe Orton
Directed By Mark Storton
Playing Dates: 17th – 20th September 2025
Expected start of rehearsals: July (allowances will be made for the holiday period).
What the Butler Saw is a shocking, outrageous and hilarious farce, set in a private psychiatric hospital. It pokes fun at ‘The Establishment’, psychiatry and the police. It was Orton’s final and best farce, produced posthumously in 1969.
Orton is seen as the ‘enfant terrible’ of the 60’s theatre and was labelled ‘The Oscar Wilde of the Welfare State”. He was an inspiration to writer like Alan Bennett, Ayckbourn and Pinter and his work was the forerunner of the Carry-On films and more modern work like Blackadder.
Period Early 1960’s
Cast: 4 Male 2 Female
Playing ages are approximate and open to variation.
Dr Prentice: 50+. Large role. Caught trying to seduce an interviewee for a secretarial post by his wife which starts off the mayhem.
Mrs. Prentice: 45+. Large role. Returns from being seduced in a hotel, followed by her seducer and blackmailer.
Dr. Rance. 45+ Large role. Government Inspector of Psychiatric hospitals. In true farce fashion, enters into the middle of the mayhem as ‘The Voice of Authority’. Turns out to be as mad as everybody else!
Geraldine Barclay: 20s+: Medium role. Asked to undress during an interview with Prentice and gets caught by his wife. Hides and must change character and clothing throughout the play.
Nicholas Beckett: 20s+. Medium role. Mrs Pentice’s seducer and blackmailer. Ends up changing character and clothing to avoid arrest.
Sergeant Match: Any age. Arrives looking for ‘the missing part of Sir Winston Churchill’. Gets involved in the mayhem. Climbs in down a ladder from a skylight at one point.
All the action takes place at break-neck speed and Orton’s stylised dialogue will need to be learnt early, to allow for rehearsal of the ‘mayhem’.
As this is the first play of the season, rehearsals will be across the summer holiday period. A read through and discussion about rehearsal days and dates will take place
soon after casting. Allowances will be made for holidays, but the longer absences will mean a longer rehearsal period to accommodate them.
Anyone wanting more information, or who is interested in being considered for a role, but can’t attend the Casting Night, please contact the director: Mark Storton:
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We hope to see you there!
Haggate Rehearsal rooms - Haggate Burnley Rd, Briercliffe, Burnley BB10 3QA (We are the building on the left as you drive in to the car park)
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