Considering the dark subject matter of Joe Orton’s Loot, this production by Christ’s Amateur Dramatic Society (CADS) was destined either to succeed in perfecting the comic tone of the play, or to fall flat on its feet. As one of a single-figure audience, it could have been an uncomfortable evening. However, thanks to the very likeable cast and a stand-out performance from Jennie King as the devious nurse, this farce was entertaining rather than simply morbid.

As a play first performed here in Cambridge and with a 1970 film adaptation starring Richard Attenborough, CADS faced a daunting challenge. The first few minutes were not promising, with the tried and tested upper-middle-class accent applied across the board regardless of suitability. By the end of the first half, however, the actors relaxed into their roles and produced individual and likeable characters.

Due to the nature of the content, which included a body carried and hidden around the set with stolen ‘loot’ from a bank robbery concealed in the coffin, it is certainly a play of bad taste. Yet it cannot be dismissed as such: the cast exchanged witty one-liners with relish and the audience became part of the conspiracy despite the clear immorality. Even the slapstick comedy found us laughing whilst simultaneously knowing that we shouldn’t. It was interesting to consider whether the ‘60s satire could still be both comic and relevant in 2011 and therefore whether the production could offer more than cheap humour. After the recent media frenzy following the police’s treatment of the student protests before Christmas, the allusions to police brutality were all the more poignant, and several moments were particularly relevant to contemporary issues.

It was, however, the assured yet despicable character of the nurse that brought liveliness to the production: her dry witticisms and supercilious expressions provided numerous comic highlights. However, the best scenes found the characters desperately forming a team, to search for a missing eye on the floor and to hide the embalmed body behind a screen. The cast worked particularly well together within these set-pieces, including the audience as collaborators.

The actors were slightly let down by the production’s lack of tightness: the audience was left unsure of when the production had ended, and even whether the intermission was in fact the finale. However, the sense of camaraderie amongst the cast, alongside the delivery of morbid humour, ensured that a potentially distasteful production was actually a dark but entertaining performance.