LOOT IS A HOOT
Loot is Joe Orton’s darkly comic masterpiece that eviscerates societal norms and exposes the hypocrisies of authority figures with razor-sharp wit. Two young men, Hal and Dennis, rob a bank next to a funeral parlor and attempt to stash their ill-gotten gains in the coffin of Hal’s recently deceased mother, Mrs. McLeavy. The result is a madcap series of farcical events involving a corrupt police inspector, a suspicious nurse, and a grieving father who is more preoccupied with propriety than grief.
Jason Reale
At Desert Ensemble Theater, where Loot runs through Sunday, Michael Pacas has done a considerable job directing with a nimble hand, molding quick-witted performances. A jocular Alex Price embodies Hal’s sardonic wit and nonchalant attitude, which highlight Orton’s theme of youthful defiance and critiques of societal values. Jason Reale exudes sly charm as Dennis, Hal’s partner in crime; he is instrumental in orchestrating the farcical antics surrounding the stolen money. His relationship with Hal — fraught with sexual subtext –adds layers of tension and dark humor. Tessa Gregory-Walker is hysterical as the calculating and morally bankrupt nurse Fay McMahon; a murderous gold-digger whose opportunistic behavior and darkly comic lines make her one of Orton’s most outrageous characters.
Larry Martin, Alex Price, Tessa Gregory-Walker
Sheldon Safir, always the rock in any play I have seen him in, is Mr. McLeavy, Hal’s father and the only one mourning the loss of Mrs. McLeavy. Desperately attempting to cling to society’s norms despite the chaos around him, Safir scores when his bafflement reaches peaks of incomprehension. Larry Martin plays Mrs. McLeavy’s corpse; though deceased, Mrs. McLeavy is central to the story’s chaos and Martin does a masterful job as the boys swap mom with the money — she in the closet, the loot in the coffin.
Charles Harvey
Charles Harvey is Inspector Truscott, a corrupt and hypocritical police officer, one who effectively highlights Orton’s critique of institutional power. Unfortunately on opening night, Harvey had difficulty with his lines, which caused the pacing to falter; in a farce like Loot, this kind of delay is particularly damaging. The challenge for most Coachella Valley theater companies is that there is not enough rehearsal time and no real preview periods, so kinks have to be worked out in front of formal audiences, thus, the pacing issues will most likely have been resolved in future performances.
Jason Reale, Larry Martin, Alex Price
Orton, who was openly gay, might have been a product of his newly “permissive” time, an age where free love became truly free, British censorship was abolished, and homosexuality decriminalized, but when it premiered in 1965, the play was shocking. For 2024 audiences, however, Loot will be more quaintly amusing than startling in its denunciation of society, societal norms and the establishment. After all, voters elected a criminal rapist to the highest office in the land, one who wants a a treasonous Russian ally to lead the DNI, and who also wants a man under investigation for sexual misconduct with a 17-year-old to lead the DOJ.
Tessa Gregory-Walker, Shel Safir
Had Orton lived longer than his tragically short thirty-four years (he was killed by his boyfriend in a murder/suicide), I sadly wondered watching Loot — one of his three major works, which include Entertaining Mister Sloane and What the Butler Saw — what heights he might’ve hit with successive plays. That these three survive and seem fresh today is a testament to his talent, a revelation for new audiences, and a bonus for old. If the show does not fly at Desert Ensemble Theatre, neither does it lag. Most importantly, it is a scathingly witty distraction.
Alex Price, Tessa Gregory-Walker, Jason Reale
photos by Tara Howard
Alex Price
Loot
Desert Ensemble Theatre
Camelot Theaters in the Palm Springs Cultural Center
2300 East Baristo Road in Palm Springs
Fri at 7:30; Sat at 2 & 7:30; Sun at 2
ends on November 24, 2023
for tickets ($40), call 760.565.2476 or visit Desert Ensemble