BWW Reviews: LOOT at Westport Playhouse Where Nothing is Sacred

Joe Orton's 1965 play, Loot, which opened at the Westport Country Playhouse, is sure to please anyone who loves black comedy. In this play, nothing is off-limits. In a nutshell, it needles religion (Catholicism in particular), satirizes attitudes towards death, and ridicules law enforcement.

Mr. McLeavy (John Horton), became a widower three days earlier, and Fay (Liv Rooth), her perky, charming killer nurse who tended to his wife, is keen on marrying him within a fortnight. Well, either marrying Mr. McLeavy or Dennis (Zach Wegner), the friend, bisexual lover and co-conspirator of his ne'er do well son, Hal (Devin Norik). Hal, a limber but lumbering blob who suffers from foot in mouth disease, feels no grief that his mother just died. His sole ambition in life is to use the loot he and Dennis robbed from the bank next to the funeral home where Dennis works to start a brothel. Then there is Truscott (David Manis), a shady law enforcement officer who tells McLeavy, "The process by which the police arrive at the solution to a mystery is, in itself, a mystery." Finally, there is Meadows (William Peden), a seemingly upright policeman. (Had Orton developed the character further, we suspect he might be Truscott's apprentice, rather than underling.)

David Kennedy's perfect direction moves the production at the fast clip the play demands. For a farce, by the way, there are only two doors and an armoire, and those doors are not forced open or slammed shut nearly as often as in typical farces. But, then, this is no typical farce. Its reliance is on acerbic wit with the intention of precisely targeted shock and irreverence, but Andrew Boyce's intimate one-room set is just large enough for the physical activity and its suggested scenery beyond the set make it easy to believe the actions that are going on off-site.

Orton's brilliant dialect, though, with its simplicity and directness, is the main strength of the play. Although you know that most of the characters have absolutely no conviction, you can't help but be appalled at the total lack of respect they have for one another. In one scene, Hal and Dennis discuss how to handle the corpse they must move in order for them to hide the money in the coffin. Dennis offers, "I'll undress her then. I don't believe in Hell." Hal replies, "That's typical of your upbringing, baby. Every luxury was lavished on you - atheism, breast-feeding, circumcision. I had to make my own way."

Tara Rubin Casting delivered an impeccable cast. Rooth is delightful as the gold-digging nurse who will hit on anything, dead or alive. Horton is credible as the bereaved, perplexed widower. Peden is in fine form as the ostensibly honest policeman, and was cast nicely against Manis, as the buffoon-like but sinister Scotland Yard inspector. Wegner is an ideal foil to both Hal and Fay. Norik is perfect as his train wreck of a son for whom "cleaning up after [him] is a full-time job.

Make your own way to 25 Powers Court in Westport between now and August 3rd to see Loot. Show times are Tuesdays at 8 p.m. Wednesdays at 2 and 8 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets start at $30.00. Call the Westport Country Playhouse at 203-227-4177 or 888-927-7529 or visit www.westportplayhouse.org.

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