LOOT

A masterpiece of black farce, Loot is full of madcap hijinks with dead bodies. It's all so very English.

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Loot follows the fortunes of two young thieves Dennis and Hal. Dennis works for an undertaker. Hal's old Mum has just died. They rob the bank next door. They need a place to stash the cash from the bank they just robbed next to the funeral parlour.

Luckily they find just the place to hide the loot. With the money hidden in Hal’s recently-deceased mother's coffin, the only hitch is there's no place for Mum body. When Inspector Truscott (a master of disguise from the city Waterboard) arrives on the scene (who is actually a corrupt and nosy policeman investigating the heist), the proverbial spanner in the works.

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This blistering black comedy eviscerates the hypocrisies of gender, authority, church, state and social niceties, and bounces wildly between the ordinary and the outrageous. Only the outrageous often seems eerily familiar!

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Loot saw its premiere in London in 1966 and remains one of the most potent works from this master of the macabre.

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Coming after the success of Entertaining Mr Sloane, it confirmed Orton as one of the most daring and original voices of his generation.

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Winner: 1966 Evening Standard Award for Best Play