Research Guides
Loot
Joe Orton
The first London production of Loot was given at the Jeanetta Cochrane Theatre by the London Traverse Theatre Company on September 29, 1966 and was directed by Charles Marowitz.
Cast:
McLeavy: Gerry Duggan
Fay: Sheila Ballantine
Hal: Kenneth Cranham
Dennis: Simon Ward
Truscott: Michael Bates
Meadows: David Redmond
Designed by Tony Carruthers
Select Production History
1966 Cochrane Theatre, London; directed by Charles Marowitz
1968 Biltmore Theatre, New York; directed by Derek Goldby
1973 C.S.C. Repertory Company, New York; directed by Robert Hall
1975 The Royal Court Theater, London; directed by Albert Finney
1983 Round House Theatre, Washington, D.C.; directed by Kenneth M. Fox
1986 Manhattan Theater Club, New York, NY; directed by John Tillinger
2002 McCarter Theater, Princeton, NJ; directed by Daniel Fish
2002 Intiman, Seattle, WA; directed by Craig Lucas
Select Publication History
Orton, Joe. (1967). Loot. London: Methuen & Co LTD.
Orton, Joe. (1967). Loot. New York: Grove Press, Inc.
Orton, Joe. (1976). The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press.
Orton, Joe. (1977). Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press.
Orton, Joe. (1981). The Complete Plays. London: Methuen.
Orton, Joe. (1990). The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Weidenfeld.
Reviews of Select Productions (links are to full-text articles; UW-restricted unless otherwise noted)
Barnes, C. (1968, Mar 19). Theater: Joe orton's 'loot' at biltmore. New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. 40. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/118196609?accountid=14784
Berson, M. (2002, Oct 25). Intiman delivers the goods in wickedly anarchic `Loot'. Seattle Times, The (WA), p. E2.. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/0F6EE0B8D8F447AE?p=WORLDNEWS
Christon, L. (1973, Oct 26). Stage Beat: New refinery doing joe orton’s ‘loot’. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File), pp. 1-g18. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/157285296?accountid=14784
Cook, J. (1975, Jun 03). Finney's wake. The Guardian (1959-2003), pp. 12. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/185794584?accountid=14784
Cooke, R. P. (1968, Mar 20). The theater: Caper with a corpse. Wall Street Journal (1923 - Current File), pp. 16. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/133321802?accountid=14784
Farr Special to the P-I, R. (2002, Oct 28). Laughs are sharp but 'loot' is fading. Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA), p. E6.. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/nb/news/0F6FA12909AED574?p=WORLDNEWS
Gussow, M. (1986, Feb 23). STAGE VIEW; AN INSPIRED ROMP THROUGH THE LANDSCAPE OF 'LOOT'. New York Times, Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/425768175?accountid=14784
Klein, A. (2002, Sep 22). 'Loot' still has power to shock, with light touch. New York Times, pp. NJ.19. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/432165458?accountid=14784
Marks, S. K. (1966, Nov 11). Grisly play 'loot' mocks english life. Los Angeles Times (1923-Current File), pp. 1-d16. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/155591531?accountid=14784
Rich, F. (1986, Feb 19). Stage: Joe orton's 'loot,' directed by tillinger. New York Times, Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/425773183?accountid=14784
Richards, D. (1983, Nov 19). 'Loot's' loose ends. The Washington Post (1974-Current File), pp. 1. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/147526700?accountid=14784
Thompson, H. (1973, May 28). Stage: 'loot' resurrected. New York Times (1923-Current File), pp. 9. Retrieved from http://offcampus.lib.washington.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/119876765?accountid=14784
Select Bibliography (links are to full-text articles; UW-restricted unless otherwise noted)
Scholarly Articles
Charney, M. (1981). Orton's Loot as "Quotidian Farce": The Intersection of Black Comedy and Daily Life. Modern Drama, 24(4), 514-524.
Abstract: Criticizes the play "Loot" by Joe Orton. Views of Orton on the play; Plots and characters of the play; Description of Orton's works.
Draudt, M. (1978). Comic, tragic, or absurd on some parallels between the farces of joe orton and seventeenth-century tragedy. English Studies, 59(3), 202.
Abstract: Examines parallels between the farces of Joe Orton and 17th-century tragedy. Common themes and significant links between William Shakespeare's tragedy 'Hamlet' and "Loot"; Affinities of Orton's plays and certain Jacobean tragedies, most notably 'The Revenger's Tragedy.'
Greenberg, J. (2001). Joe Orton: A High Comedy of Bad Manners. Journal of Dramatic Theory & Criticism, 15(2), 133-144. [open access] https://journals.ku.edu/index.php/jdtc/article/view/3372/3301
Abstract: The nature of `high comedy' in three plays by Joe Orton: "Entertaining Mr. Sloane", Loot", and "What the Butler Saw" in light of Orton's reputation of using primarily `low comedy' in his plays.
Monographs
Excerpt: Suburbia Fights Back: Loot (1966) by Joe Orton
The domestic setting has been invaded from within by the socially taboo desires of its members, and every single relationship norm has been subverted. This is coruscating satire trying to burst out of its own containment with a vengeance. (p.82)
Page, A. (1992). An Age of Surfaces: Joe Orton's Drama and Postmodernism. The Death Of The Playwright?: Modern British Drama and Literary Theory. Basingstoke: Macmillan.
Abstract: Joe Orton's dramas "Entertaining Mr. Sloane", "Loot" and "What the Butler Saw": `death of character' as symptomatic of the post-modern condition in which he wrote.
Rusinko, S. (1995). Chapter 7: Loot. Joe Orton (Twayne's English authors series ; TEAS 515). New York: London: Twayne ; Prentice Hall International.
Abstract: In this penetrating analysis of Orton's writing, Susan Rusinko uses as a point of departure the image of Orton as clown and trickster, following in the tradition of the Lord of Misrule. She intersperses her analysis of Orton's three landmark plays with commentary on his four short plays for radio and television (two later revised for the stage), his posthumously published novel, his published but unproduced film script for the Beatles, his sketch for Kenneth Tynan's Oh, Calcutta!, and his renowned Diaries, published posthumously in 1986, wherein much of the nature of his outsider's take on society is revealed. Rusinko argues that Orton, Pinter, and Stoppard belong to the tradition of James Joyce and Samuel Beckett, as reinvigorators of stage language not in evidence since the Renaissance.
She places Orton in the rebellious tradition of such writers as Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, William Wycherley, and William Congreve, noting that, like that of the emigres Joyce and Beckett, Orton's rebellion took shape only when, at the age of 17, he left his middle-class hometown of Leicester for good.
List of Published Joe Orton Plays
Entertaining Mr. Sloane in The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1976; Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1977; The Complete Plays. London: Methuen, 1981; and The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990.
The Erpingham Camp, in Crimes of Passion: The Ruffian on the Stair, The Erpingham Camp, London: Methuen, 1967; The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1976; Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1977; The Complete Plays. London: Methuen, 1981; and The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990.
Fred and Madge in Fred and Madge; The Visitors: Two Plays, London: Nick Hearn Books, 1998.
Funeral Games, in Funeral Games, and, The Good and Faithful Servant, London: Methuen, 1970; in The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1976; Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1977; The Complete Plays. London: Methuen, 1981; and The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990.
The Good and Faithful Servant, in Funeral Games, and, The Good and Faithful Servant, London: Methuen, 1970; The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1976; Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1977; The Complete Plays. London: Methuen, 1981; and The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990.
Loot, London: Methuen & Co LTD, 1967; New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1967; in The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1976; Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1977; The Complete Plays. London: Methuen, 1981; and The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990.
The Ruffian on the Stair, in Crimes of Passion: The Ruffian on the Stair, The Erpingham Camp, London: Methuen, 1967; The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1976; Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1977; The Complete Plays. London: Methuen, 1981; and The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990.
The Visitors in Fred and Madge; The Visitors: Two Plays, London: Nick Hearn Books, 1998.
What the Butler Saw: A Play in Two Acts, New York: Samuel French, 1969; New York: Grove Press, 1974; in The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1976; Complete Plays. New York: Grove Press, 1977; The Complete Plays. London: Methuen, 1981; and The Complete Plays. New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990.