Funeral Games by Joe Orton

Funeral Games
by Joe Orton

An amateur production by arrangement with Samuel French Ltd

Thursday November 27th 2003 (includes live pre-show African drumming)

Friday November 28th 2003

Saturday November 29th 2003 (includes live jazz before and after the performance)

All performances start at 7.45pm

Tickets:
£5 and £4 concessions Thurs and Fri
£6 and £5 concessions Sat

Glusburn Institute, Colne Road, Glusburn, Near Keighley, West Yorkshire


Funeral Games was first presented by Yorkshire Television on 25th August 1968 and starred a young Ian McShane. It was first produced as a stage play in 1970.

When religious conman and cult leader Pringle receives an anonymous letter alleging his wife is having an affair with a defrocked Catholic priest, he hires young thug Caulfield to investigate.

Although it appears Tess's visits to McCorquodale - who has murdered his wife and buried her in the cellar under a pile of coal - involve nothing more compromising than a blanket bath, Pringle believes it's his right to kill her for committing adultery.

But Pringle is persuaded to tell people Tess has gone away, in the hope suspicions will be raised and he will develop a trendy reputation as a killer. To aid the deception, Tess agrees to live with McCorquodale.

However, things go awry when a news reporter begins demanding proof of the murder and accuses Pringle of being innocent...

This off-beat, surprising and wickedly funny play is true black comedy in the best Orton-style, taking a wry swipe at religion, and hinting at what the author might have achieved had he not died so violently and so young.


CAST

Pringle - Jonathan Parker
Caulfield - David Lynch
Tess - Wendy Milner
McCorquodale - Chris Allen
Police Officers - Sapna Trivedi and Joe Gibson

Director: Eleanor Jolley
Producer: Alex Waddington