"Joe Orton's last play, What the Butler Saw, will live to be accepted as a comedy classic of English literature" (Sunday Telegraph)
The chase is on in this breakneck comedy of licensed insanity, from the moment when Dr Prentice, a psychoanalyst interviewing a prospective secretary, instructs her to undress. The plot of What the Butler Saw contains enough twists and turns, mishaps and changes of fortune, coincidences and lunatic logic to furnish three or four conventional comedies. But however the six characters in search of a plot lose the thread of the action - their wits or their clothes - their verbal self-possession never deserts them. Hailed as a modern comedy every bit as good as Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Orton's play is regularly produced, read and studied. What the Butler Saw was Orton's final play.
"He is the Oscar Wilde of Welfare State gentility" (Observer)
The chase is on in this breakneck comedy of licensed insanity, from the moment when Dr Prentice, a psychoanalyst interviewing a prospective secretary, instructs her to undress. The plot of What the Butler Saw contains enough twists and turns, mishaps and changes of fortune, coincidences and lunatic logic to furnish three or four conventional comedies. But however the six characters in search of a plot lose the thread of the action - their wits or their clothes - their verbal self-possession never deserts them. Hailed as a modern comedy every bit as good as Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Orton's play is regularly produced, read and studied. What the Butler Saw was Orton's final play.
"He is the Oscar Wilde of Welfare State gentility" (Observer)
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Used availability for Joe Orton's What the Butler Saw
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
1970 : Hardback
| Title: What the Butler Saw Author(s): Joe Orton Publisher: GROVE PRESS, INC. Availability: Amazon More details... |
May 1969 : Hardback
| Title: What the Butler Saw (Modern Plays) Author(s): Joe Orton ISBN: 0-416-19390-0 / 978-0-416-19390-9 (UK edition) Publisher: Methuen young books Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Paperback Editions
November 2010 : Paperback
| Title: What the Butler Saw Author(s): Joe Orton ISBN: 0-573-61777-5 / 978-0-573-61777-5 (USA edition) Publisher: Samuel French Ltd Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
1995 : Paperback
| Title: what the butler saw Author(s): joe orton Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
1993 : Mass Market Paperback
| Title: WHAT THE BUTLER SAW Author(s): JOE ORTON Publisher: Methuen Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
1989 : Paperback
| Title: What the Butler Saw Author(s): Joe Orton Publisher: Methuen Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
1971 : Paperback
| Title: What The Butler Saw Author(s): Joe Orton Publisher: Methuen London Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
June 1970 : Paperback
| Title: What the Butler Saw [a Play] Author(s): Joe Orton ISBN: 0-394-17326-0 / 978-0-573-61777-5 (USA edition) Publisher: Grove Pr Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
May 1969 : Paperback
| Title: "What the Butler Saw" (Modern Classics) Author(s): Joe Orton ISBN: 0-413-36680-4 / 978-0-413-36680-1 (UK edition) Publisher: Methuen Drama Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
May 1969 : Paperback
| Title: What the Butler Saw (Modern Plays) Author(s): Joe Orton ISBN: 0-416-19400-1 / 978-0-416-19400-5 (UK edition) Publisher: Hamlyn young books Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
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