The Complete Plays: The Ruffain on the Stair, Entertaining Mr. Sloan, the Good and Faithful Servant, Loot, the Erpingham Camp, Funeral Games, What the Butler Saw: Amazon.co.uk: Joe Orton: 9780802132154: Books

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Product Description

This volume contains every play written by Joe Orton, who emerged in the 1960s as the most talented comic playwright in recent English history and was considered the direct successor to Wilde, Shaw, and Coward.

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7 Reviews

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4.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews)

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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderfully Witty, 22 Jun 2002

By

natalie allen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Plays: "Entertaining Mr. Sloane", "Loot", "What the Butler Saw", "The Ruffian on the Stair", "The Erpingham Camp", "Funeral Games", and "The ... "Funeral Games" "Good and Faithful Servant" (Paperback)

This is a great compilation of Orton's plays. The introduction is very accessable and gives a good grounding for anyone studying Orton. Joe Orton had a profoundly interesting life history and this introduction helps convey that life and character. The plays sell themselves - they are all intensely funny, intelligent, subtle and contain the wit of Oscar Wilde's finest. 'What the Butler Saw' and 'Entertaining Mr. Sloane' are my favourites and are typical of his style which is a cross between the 'Carry on' films and 'Noises Off.' Great fun.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic farces., 14 Jan 2008

By

R. A. Monk "monklane" (London, U.K.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: Complete Plays: "Entertaining Mr. Sloane", "Loot", "What the Butler Saw", "The Ruffian on the Stair", "The Erpingham Camp", "Funeral Games", and "The ... "Funeral Games" "Good and Faithful Servant" (Paperback)

I thought I'd add a review of this collection of plays as I'm amazed to find that only two other people have done so. Perhaps the notoriety of Orton's life - and death - have overtaken the work itself. But the play's the thing.

I read these plays recently and thought they were terrific. Orton had an absolute understanding of the farce form and loved to take it as far as it would go. And then go further.

While these plays can't be called political in the sense of Dario Fo's "Accidental Death Of An Anarchist" they certainly have some bite to them. Orton wasn't a political writer, he was more concerned with society's institutions and conventions, and he could be scathing. But, crucially, these plays are as funny as Fo's works. The best of these plays - "Loot", "What The Butler Saw" - certainly can be mentioned in the same breath as any farce you care to name.

I found this a really good read. I'm an actor and it made me long to see these plays performed and, more, to be in them myself.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Once you have seen a Joe Orton Play you'll never go back, 4 July 2005

By

bernie "xyzzy" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Complete Plays: The Ruffain on the Stair, Entertaining Mr. Sloan, the Good and Faithful Servant, Loot, the Erpingham Camp, Funeral Games, What the Butler Saw (Paperback)

A paragraph from the dust cover:
This Volume contains every play that Joe Orton-now a key figure in modern British drama-wrote before his violent death in 1967 at the age of 34. It includes four shorter plays ("The Ruffian on the Stair", "The Good and Faithful Servant", "The Erpingham Camp" and "Funeral Games") and the three plays for which Orton is chiefly known here: "Loot", "What the butler Saw" and "Entertaining Mr. Sloane."

I bought the book for the play "What the Butler Saw" which style remedies me of "The Importance of Being Ernest" by Oscar Wilde. The other plays are an added plus.

Read the book then see if you local theater is aware of the plays.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars great book
Another good read from the much missed Joe Orton, a man of many talent's and if you know about this man and the history of him your love he's work and stories.