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Loot

 
Richard Beck Review by Richard Beck 2 Published: 25 Feb 2026 Multiple Venues Show Dates: 19 Feb 2026-7 Mar 2026

The essential elements of Loot are its irreverence towards the taboo of death and the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church, and its attacks on the integrity of the police force. The script both overtly and by innuendo allows for these to be highlighted, if you know how to play it, and that is where this production falls short.

Orton’s peculiar type of theatre proves to be too demanding

Black comedy, of which Joe Orton was a master, is a demanding genre. It’s not simple laugh-out-loud comedy, although it contains many hilarious moments, nor is it pure farce with split-second timing avoiding disastrous consequences, yet it contains elements of both. Instead, it treads a precarious path between the two and demands a very specific interpretation that delivers its unique style.

Ultimately, everything is down to the director, but all play their part. Casting director Chloe Blake has assembled actors who appear as caricatures, churning out lines at speed with little awareness of the nuances and subtleties contained within. There is an excess of eccentricity from some, with unrelentingly high-octane, monotone diatribes that should have been reined in, while underplayed delivery of potentially comic lines comes from others. What’s lacking is the credibility that these are real people engaged in outrageous behaviour. Orton’s homoeroticism is also lost through a lack of seductiveness, along with the underlying sense of menace.

The abundance of often hyperbolic activity and delivery is sustained at such a level as to become monotone and does not negate the overall feeling of blandness. The set and costume design by Zoë Hurwitz convey the period, but the looming illuminated cross, while impressive, is overstated, especially when, with no context, it turns to red, white and blue at the end.

Loot marks director Bethany Pitts’ first opportunity to “lead work on a mid-scale stage”. It appears in this case that Orton’s peculiar type of theatre proves to be too demanding and too big an opening gambit.

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The Blurb:

Get ready for a wickedly funny night at the theatre as Joe Orton’s scandalous dark farce Loot bursts onto the stage.

A bank robbery, a family funeral, and a coffin with a shocking secret – nothing is off limits in this mischievous comedy of chaos! When a daring heist goes spectacularly wrong, the money ends up in the most unlikely hiding place, and the lies begin to pile up fast. What follows is a whirlwind of cover-ups, confusion and sheer audacity as everyone scrambles to stay ahead.

Orton’s masterpiece is packed with razor-sharp dialogue, physical mayhem and twists that spiral towards the absurd. Daring, dark and unmissably funny, nothing is off limits in this mischievous comedy of chaos!