How odd to sit in a theatre knowing that the play you are watching is dedicated to you. All right, I wasn’t a close friend of playwright Simon Gray. To be honest, I never even met him. But I did attend Queen Mary College on the Mile End Road where Gray was teaching when he wrote Butley which he dedicated to the ‘staff and students, past, present and future, of the English department, Queen Mary College.’ Now, I attended in 1984 but can I remember a Dr Gray? I was far too scared. But I’ll bask in the glory, thank you very much.
In Butley, Gray created a rather unpleasant but nevertheless fascinating character. Selfish, uncouth, lazy and caustic, he gets his kicks from irritating all those around him – his estranged wife, his former mentor and his baffled students.
Dominic West, who gives an impressive performance as Butley, seemed known to the audience – clearly fans of the television drama The Wire. They seemed disappointed that he was not playing Butley as Jimmy McNulty, the character in that show. From this viewpoint West proved he is an accomplished comic actor, playing the role flawlessly and with relish.
Martin Hutson played his foil, Joseph Keyston – sensible, hard-working, neat and exasperated that his one-time benefactor has descended so low. The supporting cast is strong – the wonderful Penny Downie has immense presence while Paul McGann surprised pleasantly in his cameo as Reg Nutall.
Through the clear storytelling of the players, Butley manages to avoid being a timepiece, a peek into a time gone by, where lecturers smoked and drank far more than they taught, It would be interesting to see this staged as a modern piece – society is full of people whose lives are wrecked by boredom and routine. We all know someone who hits the self-destruct button, and you cannot help pity the rogue as he realizes his fate at the end of this wonderful play.
Catch it while you can at the Duchess Theatre, Catherine Street, London (www.duchesstheatre.co.uk).