Shock, outrage and amusement are what audiences have come to expect of Joe Orton’s plays and in last night’s performance of The Ruffian on the Stair, Orton’s breakthrough play, you can perceive the seeds of his later, more successful black farces Loot and What the Butler Saw.

Many of the elements of this play that would have been outrageous for theatre goers in the 60s (prostitution, extra marital relationships, homosexuality, incest and violence set in a working class bedsit) have lost their shock value over time as we are now culturally and socially used their portrayal on stage, screen and online. But however diminished Orton’s original shock tactics are, the subjects and questions he raises are still pertinent today. Not least his exploration and portrayal of human emotions, values, hopes and fears. In last night’s performance these were particularly well interpreted by Rachel Evans as Joyce – a former prostitute with a confused identity and a desperate need to perpetuate her “marriage” to Mike. At the opening of the play, she is falsely perky and over-appreciative of Mike’s meagre efforts to mark their anniversary but this façade is battered and broken through the drama and by the end of the play as she sits slumped and shattered on her battered bed the audience appreciates how physically and emotionally bereft she is. The attitude of Mike and their visitor to Joyce and indeed the very circumstances in which she finds herself still raise interesting questions about the role of women in society and relationships and she is the most fully rounded and sympathetic of the character’s Orton explores in this one act play.

Joyce’s transformation is brought about in no small part by the unknown and unnamed 'Ruffian' played with smiling menace by James Mace whose charming grin never connected to his eyes throughout the play. The audience learns that he is seeking revenge for the death of his brother, with whom he has been having an incestuous affair, killed in a traffic accident by Mike. He also wishes to die to be with his brother but is unable to commit suicide due to his catholic beliefs, a view Irish Catholic Mike sympathizes with and which leaves the audience gasping at the sheer hypocrisy of this position given the ruffian’s incestuous affair with his brother. As Mike, restlessly portrayed by Michael Jacobs, struggles to grasp the complexity of his situation he is easily manipulated by the ruffian leading to the drama’s final confrontation.

The play was simply staged and interestingly Joyce and Mike were already seated and chatting at their dining table as the audience arrived pulling everyone into the claustrophobia of their bedsit. The mellifluous tones of jazz were used well by music director Robert Dimbleby throughout the play and the music proved a particularly emotional counter-point to the couple’s awkward anniversary waltz. Oliver Tobey’s work on lighting and effects was discreet and effective and Emily Dillistone’s direction subtly drew out the intriguing and complex under-current of the play.

The Ruffian on the Stair is not the greatest of Orton’s brief oeuvre but the producer Sarah Wright should be congratulated on giving this fascinating piece an airing. On the strength of last night’s performance not only does the play give great insight into the development of Orton’s work but also has relevance for today’s audience in the areas it covers and the questions it poses. Whilst the audience did find humour in last night’s performance this was gentler than the crueller, harsher farcical comedy evident in Orton’s later plays. However, in the life and death of Joyce’s pet goldfish during the play we do see Orton playing with some of the absurd juxtapositions he uses so effectively later. Overall this performance of The Ruffian on the Stair is curious, intriguing and yet insightful and I would recommend seeing the play during its run to the end of the week to explore and reflect on some of the many fascinating kernels of ideas in the play.