The Making of Moo

Synopsis

At the farewell ceremony for the creator of the new dam, a murder is committed. The engineer, Frederick Compton, learns that while he may have brought this backward nation electricity and water, he has killed their river god. He and his wife cannot simply abandon the country to a lawless, godless future. They must stay. A new god must be created. First presented at the Royal Court with a cast that included Joan Plowright, John Osborne and George Devine as the civil engineer turned high priest, who said of this biting satire "exactly what I want to have said in my theatre."

Our Review:

Michael Coveney - 16 November 2009

Kenneth Tynan hailed the late Nigel Dennis’ The Making of Moo, a 1957 satirical play of ideas about the evils of organised Christianity, as the first outright assault on religion on the British stage.

The Royal Court cast included George Devine, Joan Plowright, John Osborne, John Wood and Robert Stephens. Devine, the founder of the English Stage Company, said it was exactly the sort of play he wanted to see in his theatre; it was highly intelligent, funny and blasphemous (but not much cop when it came to the characters).

So Sam Walters’ revival at the Orange Tree is of intense curiosity value, at the very least. It proves to be much more in its witty, high-class dialogue, extraordinary ritualistic second act, and ever-present Shavian application in a discussion on ethics in religious sects and movements.

How come no one has revived the play before? It’s an utter mystery, as is the influence of the river god Ega, who is displaced in a colonial dam-...

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