Feature: Theatre - The Butler at the Pleasance

Published: 24 June 2010
by JOSH LOEB

IT has been described as “like Cirque du Soleil for grown-ups” – a rollicking visual feast laced with satire. 

Now New Zealand’s Loon Circus Theatre, a troupe whose show The Butler has reportedly gone down a storm in their home nation, are heading our way. 

The company’s aim is ambitious – “We think The Butler has potential to play on the biggest possible international stages,” says Joe Bennett, who wrote the show. Those behind this new style of circus evidently believe it’s got legs (albeit ones on stilts).

“It’s a new notion and so you’ve got to convey that to people,” says Mr Bennett. “It’s a play but it’s performed by circus performers. While Cirque du Soleil is basically just entertainment, this has a thumping satirical beat. It makes people laugh but it’s also pretty dark.” 

The play is about a butler presiding over a dinner party in which, hilariously, the trivial niceties of the event – the taking off of hats and coats, the saying of grace, the polite chit-chat and so forth – become a whirlwind of grotesque antics in a send-up of snobbery and convention.

“It’s evolved from scratch and has become a bit of a monster,” says Mr Bennett. “If we sell every ticket in London, we’ll just about come out even. So this isn’t a money-making enterprise. Audiences will lap it up, they’ll come out grinning like chimps. If we can just get 1,000 people through the doors in the first week, word of mouth will sell it.”

The show, Mr Bennett believes, satisfies perennial desires. 

“To quote Dr Johnson, people go to the theatre ‘the better to enjoy life or the better to endure it’,” he says. “A good show 500 years ago is a good show now and a crappy show then is a crappy show now.”

• The Butler is at The Pleasance, North Road, N7, from July 7-31 at 7.30pm (Sunday performances at 5pm).
Tickets £7-£12.50, 020 7609 1800