Funeral Games (play)
Encyclopedia
Funeral Games is a 60 minute play by Joe Orton
. It was his final television play, and was first performed after his death.
It was written for Yorkshire Television
, and broadcast on August 26th 1968 as part of their series of dramas based on The Seven Deadly Virtues.
Funeral Games followed the general format of the other plays in the series The Seven Deadly Virtues (by other playwrights), in that viewers were supposed to decide which virtue they were witnessing before the answer was revealed in the closing credits. The choices available were justice, prudence, temperance, courage (fortitude), faith, hope and charity. Funeral Games can be seen as a satire on the theme of Christian charity. It is also an attack on hypocrisy in general, and on religion and middle-class morality in particular.
The play displays Orton's hallmarks of black humour, outrageous characters, deliberate bad taste and surreal situations.
It seems as if the report is mistaken, and Tess's visits to the priest McCorquodale are innocent. However, McCorquodale has killed his own wife, and buried her in the cellar. Pringle still wishes to kill Tess, but instead tells people she has 'gone away', a classic ploy used when one has killed one's wife. His intention is to gain respect as a killer. Tess agrees to live out of sight with McCorquodale.
Pringle's plans are in danger of being ruined when a reporter threatens his new reputation by suspecting that Tess is not dead at all, and accuses Pringle of being innocent.
and What the Butler Saw
.
In common with much of Orton's work, Funeral Games was regarded as very shocking in England on its first production, much more so than it would be now. Funeral Games is often mentioned as one of the plays that changed the cultural climate in England sufficiently to end the practice of the Lord Chamberlain acting as official censor to English theatre productions.
The play has long-term popularity with amateur and fringe theatre companies in England.
The script of the play was first published by Methuen (Modern Plays series, 1970).
Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton was an English playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies...
. It was his final television play, and was first performed after his death.
It was written for Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
, and broadcast on August 26th 1968 as part of their series of dramas based on The Seven Deadly Virtues.
Funeral Games followed the general format of the other plays in the series The Seven Deadly Virtues (by other playwrights), in that viewers were supposed to decide which virtue they were witnessing before the answer was revealed in the closing credits. The choices available were justice, prudence, temperance, courage (fortitude), faith, hope and charity. Funeral Games can be seen as a satire on the theme of Christian charity. It is also an attack on hypocrisy in general, and on religion and middle-class morality in particular.
The play displays Orton's hallmarks of black humour, outrageous characters, deliberate bad taste and surreal situations.
Plot
Cult leader, preacher and con artist Pringle hires the thuggish criminal Caulfield to investigate an anonymous report that his wife Tess is having an affair with a defrocked Catholic priest.It seems as if the report is mistaken, and Tess's visits to the priest McCorquodale are innocent. However, McCorquodale has killed his own wife, and buried her in the cellar. Pringle still wishes to kill Tess, but instead tells people she has 'gone away', a classic ploy used when one has killed one's wife. His intention is to gain respect as a killer. Tess agrees to live out of sight with McCorquodale.
Pringle's plans are in danger of being ruined when a reporter threatens his new reputation by suspecting that Tess is not dead at all, and accuses Pringle of being innocent.
Production history
Orton wrote Funeral Games in several drafts between July and November 1966, a period of intense productivity for him. Funeral Games is considered to be the transitional play between LootLoot (play)
Loot is a two-act play by the English playwright Joe Orton. The play is a dark farce that satirises the Roman Catholic Church, social attitudes to death, and the integrity of the police force....
and What the Butler Saw
What the Butler Saw (play)
What the Butler Saw is a farce written by English playwright Joe Orton. It premièred at the Queen's Theatre in London on 5 March 1969. It was Orton's final play and the second to be performed after his death, following Funeral Games the year before....
.
In common with much of Orton's work, Funeral Games was regarded as very shocking in England on its first production, much more so than it would be now. Funeral Games is often mentioned as one of the plays that changed the cultural climate in England sufficiently to end the practice of the Lord Chamberlain acting as official censor to English theatre productions.
The play has long-term popularity with amateur and fringe theatre companies in England.
The script of the play was first published by Methuen (Modern Plays series, 1970).