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Celebrating the work of JOE ORTON In August 2017, the Little Theatre attracted an enthusiastic packed house to hear acclaimed actor Francis Barber and a number of top comedy writers, reading a selection of the outraged letters which Joe Orton wrote to the press under the synonym of Edna Welthorpe (Mrs). These letters were written to add notoriety to his plays, complaining about the vileness of his themes and the characters, bringing him added publicity in the process. Joe joined the Little Theatre to relieve the tedium of working in a number of boring dead-ends jobs in Leicester. He never played big parts, mainly because he wasn’t a particularly talented actor. He was described by his drama teacher, who was giving him private acting lessons at the time, as ‘Colourless and unimaginative’. Despite this, in 1951 he was accepted at RADA . It was here that he met Kenneth Halliwell, who became his lover. (Above) ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE 1979/80 (L.to R.) John Sumpter as Ed, Marion Morley as Kath, and Jeff Bailey as Sloane. WHAT THE BUTLER SAW (Above Left) 1981/82 Production. (L.to R.) Philip Middleton as Nicholas Beckett, Mike Dack as Sergeant Match and Donald Ball as Dr. Prentice. (Left) 2014/15 Production. (L.to R.) Paul Large as Dr. Prentice, Angela Edwards as Mrs. Prentice and Phil Norman as Dr. Rance. Joe and Kenneth were both experiencing continual rejection of their work as writers and actors, and they eventually took revenge on the world of publishing that had spurned them, by stealing books from the Islington library. They altered the dust jackets and rewrote the blurbs on the inside flaps to make them highly obscene. They were finally prosecuted and ended up with a six- month prison sentence. None of Halliwell's writing was ever published, but in 1963, Joe’s career took off following a broadcast by the BBC of his play The Ruffian on the Stairs. There followed major successes with a number of his plays: Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Loot and What The Butler Saw, and he became the ‘enfant terrible’ of the West End Theatre. Joe and Kenneth continued to live their bizarre existence but the more Orton was fêted by the show-biz world, the more unstable Halliwell became. Finally, in 1967 tragedy struck, when in a fit of jealousy he battered Joe to death before killing himself. The Little had discussed including Loot amongst its plays for production, but unfortunately at the time, was unable to obtain the Rights. In retrospect, considering his association with the Theatre, this was a little difficult to understand. Had Joe been still alive today he would probably have written a letter of complaint. Roy Smith Part of the programme for Richard III in which Joe, along with other members of the cast, signed his name. (Right) LOOT 1993/94 David Wortley as InspectorTruscott. OVERHEARD IN THE AUDIENCE 6

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Celebrating the work of

JOE ORTON

In August 2017, the Little Theatre attracted an enthusiastic packed house to hear acclaimed actor Francis Barber and a number of top comedy writers, reading a selection of the outraged letters which Joe Orton wrote to the press under the synonym of Edna Welthorpe (Mrs). These letters were written to add notoriety to his plays, complaining about the vileness of his themes and the characters, bringing him added publicity in the process.

Joe joined the Little Theatre to relieve the tedium of working in a number of boring dead-ends jobs in Leicester. He never played big parts, mainly because he wasn’t a particularly talented actor. He was described by his drama teacher, who was giving him private acting lessons at the time, as ‘Colourless and unimaginative’. Despite this, in 1951 he was accepted at RADA . It was here that he met Kenneth Halliwell, who became his lover.

(Above)ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE 1979/80(L.to R.) John Sumpter as Ed, Marion Morley as Kath, and Jeff Bailey as Sloane.

WHAT THE BUTLER SAW (Above Left)1981/82 Production.(L.to R.) Philip Middleton as Nicholas Beckett, Mike Dack as Sergeant Match and Donald Ball as Dr. Prentice. (Left)2014/15 Production.(L.to R.) Paul Large as Dr. Prentice, Angela Edwards as Mrs. Prentice and Phil Norman as Dr. Rance.

Joe and Kenneth were both experiencing continual rejection of their work as writers and actors, and they eventually took revenge on the world of publishing that had spurned them, by stealing books from the Islington library. They altered the dust jackets and rewrote the blurbs on the inside flaps to make them highly obscene. They were finally prosecuted and ended up with a six-month prison sentence.None of Halliwell's writing was ever published, but in 1963, Joe’s career took off following a broadcast by the BBC of his play The Ruffian on the Stairs. There followed major successes with a number of his plays: Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Loot and What The Butler Saw, and he became the ‘enfant terrible’ of the West End Theatre. Joe and Kenneth continued to live their bizarre existence but the more Orton was fêted by the show-biz world, the more unstable Halliwell became. Finally, in 1967 tragedy struck, when in a fit of jealousy he battered Joe to death before killing himself. The Little had discussed including Loot amongst its plays for production, but unfortunately at the time, was unable to obtain the Rights. In retrospect, considering his association with the Theatre, this was a little difficult to understand. Had Joe been still alive today he would probably have written a letter of complaint. Roy Smith

Part of the programme for Richard III in which Joe, along with other members of the cast, signed his name.

(Right)LOOT 1993/94David Wortley as InspectorTruscott.

OVERHEARD IN THE AUDIENCE

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