METROWEST DAILY NEWS – Your first glimpse of Ryan Barrow’s well-appointed set for the Company Theatre production of “Loot” – complete with an open casket front and center – may make you think you’re in for a dignified look at a 1960s British family in mourning.
But if you know the playwright, Joe Orton, you know any reverential references will soon give way to irreverent black comedy. In his brief but prolific career as a playwright, Orton – just 34 when murdered by his lover, Kenneth Halliwell, in 1967 – was well known for entertaining and sometimes outraging British theatergoers.
A crucifix on the wall could indicate that the homeowner, Mr. McLeavy, is an Anglican or a Catholic, but the prominently placed statue of Mary suggests he’s likely the latter. While making a central character Catholic may once have caused British jaws to drop, but it isn’t likely to result in any similar stir on the South Shore in 2018.
More than 50 years after their early successes, Orton’s plays probably still shock some. These days, though, even the most prim and proper theatergoers can relax and revel in Orton’s clever wit and devilish pushback against authority.
And indeed, a recent Norwell audience laughed out loud at Orton’s farcical look at the Roman Catholic Church, some wildly disparate attitudes toward death, and the forthrightness of local law enforcement.
The at-home wake of Mrs. McLeavy is a low-key affair until two young men, Dennis and her son, Hal, rob the bank next door. Needing somewhere to hide their ill-gotten gain, the pair head to Hal’s house, where they eventually stash the cash in his late mother’s casket.
They stole a lot of loot, though, leaving no room for the body, which ends up in several short-stay situations. The men have a willing accomplice in the decedent’s nurse, Fay McMahon, a seven-time widow and all-purpose seductress.
Complicating their plans, however, are grieving widower Mr. McLeavy, Inspector Truscott, who tries to pass himself off as being from the Water Department, and a frequently gone-missing glass eye.
Director Peter A. Carey keeps the pace brisk with a talented company of actors led by Jeff Gill as the befuddled, unjustly framed widower. And while Nurse McMahon – a role played by Quincy native Lee Remick in the play’s 1970 film adaptation – may not be the most caring caretaker, Stephanie Wells makes her great fun to watch nonetheless.
As romantic partners turned partners in crime, William Oliver and Doug Dulaney are humorously and haplessly well matched. Oliver brings a clean-cut earnestness to Dennis, while Dulaney imbues Hal with just the right blend of false bravado and youthful jerkiness.
William Gardiner all but steals the show with his spot-on performance as the aggressively antic Inspector. As Meadows, Bill Carter is seen only very briefly, but his delightfully deadpan expression lingers.
As with most of Orton’s writing, much of the humor comes from having everyday characters spout surprising, jarring thoughts in the most routine manner. As one in “Loot” says, “Had euthanasia not been against my religion, I would have practiced it. Instead, I decided to murder her.”
Perverse logic, maybe, but also classic Orton.
By R. Scott Reedy
