“Take off your clothes and lie on the couch!” is Dr Prentice’s command to everyone who enters his consultation room in this most chaotic of Joe Orton’s works.
Although the cast do their best, the quick-fire lines in this mystifyingly-titled piece often get the better of them.
However, if you stop trying to catch every word and make sense of the myriad cross-purpose situations, there is plenty to appreciate in this production.
Patric Kearns is hugely watchable as lecherous, yet lovable Dr Prentice, while Dr Rance’s (David Callister) slavering delight in so many incidents of “incest, buggery and outrageous behaviour”, is delicious to behold.
Nicholas Beckett (Ewan Goddard) ups the hilarity quotient as he stumbles around in high-heels, failing miserably to make sense of his sexuality.
And if, during this largely entertaining show you’re tempted to think Fawlty Towers, never forget it was Orton’s butler who saw it first.
Three stars
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