Loot

Written by Joe Orton Directed by AJ Bartley

Cast: Kyla Booth, Matthew Chapman, Ivan Jankovic, Simon Lancione, Malcolm Walton and Maxwell Whigham

We must keep abreast of the times...

In the mid-Sixties, when London was swinging to the sound of the new world of sex, scandal and miniskirts, the theatre world was being shaken by the antics of playwright Joe Orton.

With his irreverent and shocking takes on attitudes towards the safety of the middle classes Orton was known as the “Oscar Wilde of the Housing Estate.” Orton had the West End swinging from the chandeliers and pleasant, safe, boring Enid and Edna reaching for their pearls in outrage. Unashamedly gay, working-class and hedonistic and with a criminal record to boot, Orton schmoozed with the top echelons of the cultural world. But like that other Brilliant Playwright who he was often compared to, Oscar Wilde, Orton was subject to a dramatic and infamous downfall when he was murdered by his lover Kenneth Halliwell...bludgeoned to death with a hammer. Such a violent death was typical and fitting for a man who lived for the scandal, the brutality and the absurd brilliance of the world.
Loot is an extremely dark farce that takes aim at the final taboo: death. Mrs. McLeavy has died. Her husband is in mourning. Her nurse is shoring up her position (and her hem-line) in the McLeavy household. Her son meanwhile has more things to worry about than grief. The bank next to the funeral home has been robbed and he, along with his best friend (and sometimes more), who may or may not be involved needs a place to stash the cash. With the coffin about to make its final journey, and Inspector Truscott of the water board hot on their heels they stumble on a solution to both problems that is both hilarious and gruesome. Let the funeral games begin...

Feedback/Comments