Jean Cocteau Rep continues their 1998-99 season with Joe Orton's dark farce, Loot, running at their Bowerie Lane Theatre, Nov. 20-Feb 20.

Orton's Loot was considered a failure in its original production, in Cambridge 1965, and the show closed in less than a month. The show is now considered one of Orton's comic classics along with his What the Butler Saw and Entertaining Mr. Sloan.

Loot, will be directed by Scott Shattuck, who also staged Orton's What The Butler Saw for Cocteau Rep two seasons back. The comedy tells of a son who needs to dump stolen money into his mother's casket.

The cast for Loot includes: Tim Deak, Charles Parnell, Tracey Atkins, Craig Smith, and Harris Berlinsky. Set design is by Robert Joel Schwartz, with lighting by Jonathan R. Polgar and costumes by Susan Soetaert.

The Cocteau Rep production of Joe Orton's Loot plays at the company's Bowerie Lane Theatre, Nov. 20- Feb. 12. The production plays in rotating repertory with Ionesco's Rhinoceros (through Dec. 4) and Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra (begins Jan. 15). For tickets ($30-$24) or more information, call (212) 677-0060. -- By Sean McGrath