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Can the butler do it? >> Just for Laughs hopes to get lucky with Orton play by AMY BARRATT
Fast forward a year and here's Joel Greenberg, recently named Artistic Director of the festival's theatre division, singing the praises of this year's English theatre offering, What the Butler Saw, by Joe Orton. Why am I starting to feel like Charlie Brown, always getting my hopes up only have the football snatched away from me in the end? Is there any reason to believe that this year might be different? Could it be third time lucky for the comedy festival? (Their first foray into semi-legitimate theatre was in 1997 with Silly Cow, starring Luba Goy--let's not even go there.) Will this be the year that Just for Laughs produces an English play that's an artistic success? Well, maybe. This year's play has at least one advantage over last year's, and that is Joe Orton. The bad boy English playwright, who was murdered at age 34 shortly after finishing this play, is recognized everywhere as an important contributor to 20th-century theatre--whereas Weintraub only enjoys that reputation in the parlours of Westmount. Like Oscar Wilde, to whom he is often compared, Orton rejoiced in sticking it to polite society. Champions of Orton's writing claim that he was ahead of his time, and that only now are we beginning to be ready for his rude irreverence. On the surface, What the Butler Saw looks a lot like a typical British sex farce: one of those brainless, giggly affairs with a lot of doors opening and closing and women running about in skimpy lingerie. "All farce has misunderstandings, mistaken identities and the main themes are money and love," explains actor Harry Hill, who plays Dr. Rance. "This one has all of that, but it is also vicious social satire. It's much more intellectual than typical farce."
Looking for local talent As Artistic Director, Greenberg says he's committed to producing new Canadian comedies for the festival. Although he and festival head Andy Nulman looked at some Canadian scripts starting last fall, according to Greenberg, "There wasn't a new play that we felt was ready." As a result, he suggested Orton. "It's important for Just for Laughs to do what other producing bodies aren't doing or can't do," he says. "It's important for us to choose theatre that is cutting edge, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was written yesterday." Just for Laughs is currently accepting submissions of scripts, in the hopes that a new Canadian play can be premiered at the festival next summer. There are no limitations on subject matter but, obviously, serious dramas need not apply. Send submissions to Joel Greenberg, Artistic Director, Just for Laughs Theatre, 2101 St-Laurent, Montreal, Quebec, H2X 2T5.
What the Butler Saw runs tonight, July 15, through August 1, excluding Mondays, at The Gesù, 7:30pm, $24.50-34.50+t/s, info: 790-HAHA (code: WHAT) |
Around this time last year, I interviewed Joel Greenberg about the play he was then directing for the Just for Laughs festival, William Weintraub's The Underdogs. Greenberg spoke enthusiastically and convincingly about this "satire" depicting life in an independent Quebec. It sounded promising, but people involved in a production are often the worst judges of its quality. Ultimately, the end-product sucked, because the script sucked (though it played to packed houses, so apparently it's not true that everybody's a critic).