Sex farce got a good response

The Talisman Theatre, Kenilworth, until Saturday April 23

A LECHEROUS psychiatrist’s foiled attempt to seduce his prospective secretary leads to much chaos in the Talisman Theatre’s latest production What The Butler Saw.

Playing the seedy Dr Prentice, Bill Davis brought elements of Basil Fawlty to his role which were without doubt picked up from playing Jon Cleese’s iconic comedy character in a previous show at the theatre.

This proved suitable as the best way to describe Joe Orton’s play is like an X-rated Fawlty Towers set in a mental health hospital.

It’s obvious Orton, a controversial playwright, was misbehaving when he wrote the piece.

Cross dressing, pornography, incest, rape and various other post-watershed subjects are covered and made light of and brushed off almost too quickly for the audience to dwell on before the next near-the-knuckle absurdity is brought to light.

Timing and precision is key when chaos ensues on stage and as the pace gathered and some early prompting was forgotten Davis’s fellow cast members grew into their roles.

Matthew Salisbury, as the pompous Dr Rance, played the straight man role very well while Chris Ives was equally comfortable as Prentice’s insatiable wife.

Carrying on from last summer’s offering of farcical comedy through Are You Being Served?, the Talisman has decided to push the boundaries of sex and naughtiness even further this time.

What The Butler Saw is not for the easily offended but the audience were more than prepared and their reaction to the jokes and the performance was very positive.

Theatre box office: 856548