- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: Grove Press; book club edition (1 Oct 1997)
- ISBN-10: 1568655355
- ISBN-13: 978-1568655352
- Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 15 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,099,328 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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MIKE. YES. I'm a powerfully attractive figure. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
MIKE. YES. I'm a powerfully attractive figure. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format: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.
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.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format: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."
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
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.
Published 6 months ago by Mr. G. E. Gregory
A big surprise
I joined a play-reading group with virtually no knowledge of drama post 18th Century. In my first term we started to read Joe Orton's plays, which I got via Amazon for the... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Mrs. C. G. Taylor
Once you have seen a Joe Orton Play you will never go back to the...
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. Read more
Published on 10 April 2010 by bernie
Loot - By far the best play in the bunch
'Loot' is one of Orton's best plays, some of the others don't live up to it which is a shame.
Published on 6 Dec 2009 by H. Parkin
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