We sat down with Bethany Pitts for a quick chat about her upcoming project, Loot. Tickets here: https://queens-theatre.co.uk/whatson/loot/
Loot is often described as a farce with teeth. How have you approached balancing its outrageous physical comedy with the darker satire at the heart of Orton’s writing?
Farce with teeth is a good description. It’s not only light entertainment that Orton was pursuing, he wanted to skewer and expose institutions and our blind acceptance and ignorance about their power. It has to be played for truth – every absurd bit of physical comedy comes from a character pursuing something to the hilt. So in effect one drives the other – the extreme lengths the characters go to hide their true nature and actions places them in increasingly absurd, compromising positions which is where a lot of the comedy comes from.
This play caused controversy when it premiered and feels newly relevant today. Which themes or moments in Loot do you think resonate most sharply with contemporary audiences?
In our ‘post-truth’ world, the blatant hypocrisy, police corruption and greed exposed in Loot hit home anew today. The character of Inspector Truscott was based on a corrupt Detective Sergeant at the time, and his complete disregard for the truth, and indeed the law, is breathtaking. Orton’s take on relationships is also quite radical – there are bi sexual, homosexual and even effectively polyamorous relationships in the play which feel very contemporary.
As this is your first opportunity to direct on a mid-scale stage, how has working at Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch shaped your directorial choices and use of space?
The auditorium at Queen’s is a beautiful proscenium arch and is ideal for staging this kind of play. With the brilliant designer Zoe Hurwitz, we’ve created a box set that brings the action close to the audience while allowing the actors to be contained. In farce, it’s important that characters are caught up in the momentum of their actions, so we’ve tried to create a space that enables that. We’ve kept the original 60s setting but relocated it to the local area – QTH are passionate about their local audience and communities, so this felt like it aligned nicely.
Orton was fiercely political and deeply subversive. How have you honoured his anarchic spirit while making the production feel fresh rather than reverential?
Orton didn’t have much time for reverence, and I think being true to his spirit involves being true to every moment of the play, but in your own way. With the permission of the estate, we’ve altered some key elements of the text that didn’t feel right in our current context, always prioritising the original intention. Casting an exciting, diverse company of actors who are all bringing their own perspective to the room has also been key in keeping it fresh – I always want to work with actors who really interrogate what’s there and bring their own bold offerings to it, and this company are certainly doing that.
Your background includes both new writing and reworking classical texts. What excites you most about directing Loot at this point in your career?
I believe in the maxim of treating every new play like a classic and every classic like a new play. What’s been particularly interesting about this process is that we’ve been working with some of the original uncensored material, so in that way it’s felt like dealing with a new play. It’s exciting to revive a play that feels like it’s got so much relevance for now, but that packs its political punch in a painfully funny way.
Farce depends heavily on rhythm, precision, and trust between performers. How have you worked with the cast to build the timing and audacity needed to make Loot truly land?
The writing requires incredible precision, so we’ve investigated every beat together on the page and on its feet. His use of language and wordplay gives you so much of the character and intention, so you’ve got to really follow it. Play is also incredibly important – games have been a key part of rehearsals and have helped the performers bond, stay sharp and become a company. It’s essentially an ensemble piece, and it’s been important to create that sense of ensemble so the actors can keep it playful and alive throughout the run.