Butley

By Simon Gray.

University lecturer Ben Butley shares his office with colleague and former star pupil, Joey. Ben's day starts badly and goes downhill from there as he finds that blistering repartee and rhetoric are not enough to stop the ultimate breakdown of the relationships with those closest to him.

Like Jimmy Porter before him, Butley is by turns sardonic, sarcastic and cynical. That the play manages to be very funny also explains why it won the Evening Standard Best Play award when it was first staged. It's going to be a bumpy ride!