The Ruffian on the Stair

Orton, Joe (English playwright, 1939-1967), “The Ruffian on the Stair,”

a __-minute comedy-drama in English, set in a kitchen-living room with a bedroom alcove, London, 1967,

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© 1967 by the Estate of Joe Orton, deceased;

• in The Best Short Plays 1970, edited by Stanley Richards (playwright, editor, 1918-____), the Margaret Mayorga Series (New York: Chilton Book Company, 1970), SF 20638;

• also, in The Complete Plays of Joe Orton, introduced by John Lahr, A Methuen Paperback (London: Eyre Methuen & Company, Ltd. [since, Routledge, Chapman & Hall], 1976), ISBN 0413346102, 448 pp., containing “Entertaining Mr. Sloane,” “Loot,” “What the Butler Saw,” “The Ruffian on the Stair,” “The Erpingham Camp,” “Funeral Games,” “The Good and Faithful Servant.”;

• also, in Joe Orton’s The Complete Plays, introduced by John Lahr, A Methuen Paperback (London : Eyre Methuen & Company, Ltd. [since, Routledge, Chapman & Hall], 1976), ISBN 0413346102, 448 pp., containing “Entertaining Mr. Sloane,” “Loot,” “What the Butler Saw,” “The Ruffian on the Stair,” “The Erpingham Camp,” “Funeral Games,” “The Good and Faithful Servant”;

• also, in Joe Orton’s The Complete Plays, introduced by John Lahr, A Black Cat Book (New York: Grove Press : distributed by Random House, 1977), ISBN 0802140416, containing “Entertaining Mr. Sloane,” “Loot,” “What the Butler Saw,” “The Ruffian on the Stair,” “The Erpingham Camp,” “Funeral Games,” “The Good and Faithful Servant”;

• also, in Joe Orton’s The Complete Plays, introduced by John Lahr, 1st Grove Weidenfeld Evergreen Edition (New York: Grove Weidenfeld, 1990), 448 pp., ISBN 0802132154, originally published: London : Eyre Methuen & Company, Ltd. [since, Routledge, Chapman & Hall], 1976, containing “The Ruffian on the Stair,” “Entertaining Mr. Sloane,” “The Good and Faithful Servant,” “Loot,” “The Erpingham Camp,” “Funeral Games,” “What the Butler Saw”;

• script/rights available from Samuel French, Inc., 45 West 45th Street New York, New York 10010-2751, U.S.A., telephone 212-206-8990, fax 212-206-1429, http://www.samuelfrench.com; Samuel French, Inc. 7623 Sunset Boulevard, Dept. W, Hollywood, California 90046-2785, U.S.A., telephone 213-876-0570; fax 323-876-6822; Samuel French, Inc. 11963 Ventura Boulevard, Studio City, California 91604, U.S.A., telephone 818-762-0535; Samuel French (Canada) Ltd. 100 Lombard Street, Dept. W, Toronto, Ontario M5C 1M3, Canada, telephone 416-363-3536, fax 416 363-1108; Samuel French, Ltd. 52 Fitzroy Street-Dept. W, London W1P 6JR, England, telephone (44207) 387-9373, fax (44207) 387-2161, http://www.samuelfrench-london.co.uk/sf/Pages/acted/sfactingeds.html, SF 20638.

Dramatis Personae

Mike (m), __, casual laborer; Wilson (m), __, mysterious young caller; Joyce (f), __, casual laborer’s doxy.

Synopsis

“This is the underside of society-- a casual laborer and his doxy. One day a strange man appears asking for a room. He begins taunting the woman and comes close to viciousness. The next day he returns, but this time the casual laborer is there too. We can now piece things together: the laborer has killed by hit and run the homosexual lover and brother of the other man. So he pretends to ravish the doxy, and forces the laborer to shoot him. It is a crime of passion.”—Samuel French, Inc. . . . , http://www.samuelfrench.com, accessed May 31, 2006.

Another Synopsis

(Spoiler warning: plot and ending details follow.) “Mike and Joyce are a poor London couple living in a cheap apartment, in the working class part of town. Through the conversation, we surmise that Mike, who's not very bright, has a shady life he keeps secret from Joyce. Joyce, as we discover, has a shady past as well (as a prostitute) that she believes she's put behind her but which she still romanticizes and misses on occasion. One day while Mike is away on a ‘job’ and Joyce is alone, a young man named Wilson stops by to check on a non-existent available room. Wilson - who claims to be a ‘gentleman's hairdresser’ - proceeds to spook her. After much effort, manages to get him to leave. Mike comes home and she nervously relates the story to him. Mike being who he is tells her she's overreacting and actually sympathizes with the young man, much to Joyce's astonishment and aggravation. The next day when Joyce is left alone with her thoughts, a series of sudden, violent noises emanate from the stairs outside their apartment door and the street outside. She pleads loudly for the perpetrator to stop, which they finally do by the end of the scene but not after a prolonged aural torture for Joyce. Naturally, she assumes it is Wilson and upon relating this incident to Mike, he decides to invite the young man over for a ‘friendly’ visit to prove her wrong. When Wilson does arrive, he and Mike have a warm ’guy talk’ which evolves into mind games, conducted by Wilson. Apparently, Wilson's beloved brother was murdered by Mike (accidentally) and the cat-and-mouse conversation frightens Mike so much that he takes the pistol from their bedroom and fires at Wilson twice, missing him on the first shot. Wilson dies and the play wraps up with Mike in shock and Joyce mourning the loss of her goldfish, whose bowl was struck by the gunfire.”—The Ruffian on the Stair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ruffian_on_the_Stair, accessed May 31, 2006.

Comment

“The Ruffian On the Stair” . . . was first performed on BBC radio in August 1964. In 1967, “The Ruffian on the Stair” and “The Erpingham Camp” were performed as a double bill at the Royal Court Theatre, London, England, under the title of Crimes of Passion. The same tandem bill was presented on October 26, 1969, at the Off-Broadway Astor Place Theatre, New York, New York, U.S.A The title and play are based on a few lines from poet and dramatist W.E. Henley. "Madam Life's a piece in bloom, /Death goes dogging everywhere: /She's the tenant of the room, /He's the ruffian on the stair."—The Ruffian on the Stair - Wikipedia.

Themes

death, gunfire, hairdressing, murder, pistol, prostitution, roomer, shady past, working class.