Joe Orton

Joe Orton
Joe Orton (1933 – 1967) was born John Kingsley Orton in Leicester and from the age of two, lived on the Saffron Lane council estate. After winning a scholarship to RADA in 1951, he met Kenneth Halliwell, an actor and writer seven years his senior. Halliwell would become Orton’s friend, mentor, lover and, eventually, his murderer. Between 1964 and 1967, Joe Orton contributed to an exciting working class culture that swept through the nation. A promiscuous and openly gay man at a time when homosexuality was actively persecuted by the police, Orton was the rising star of an 'alternative British intelligentsia'. His first stage play, Entertaining Mr Sloane, was a huge success while his second, Loot, won the coveted Evening Standard award for Best Play.Perform Joe Orton
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Loot
Joe Orton
Full-Length Play, Dark ComedyLoading...
Loot
Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy / 1f, 5m
"Seethes with black, baleful mirth. Cudgels traditional morality."-Associated Press
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What the Butler Saw
Joe Orton
Full-Length Play, ComedyLoading...
What the Butler Saw
Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2f, 4m
"Hilarious, outrageous [...] It dazzles! [...] Wonderfully verbal, toying with words as if they were firecrackers." - The New York Times
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Fred and Madge
Joe Orton
Full-Length Play, DramaLoading...
Fred and Madge
Full-Length Play, Drama / 4f, 6m
This is Orton's first play. The title characters seem to be the stereotypical middle-aged couple, bored with each other, talking in clichés. But it turns out that Fred's job is to push boulders uphill like Sisyphus, and Madge's is to sieve water all …
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Loot
Joe Orton
Full-Length Play, Dark Comedy -
What the Butler Saw
Joe Orton
Full-Length Play, ComedyWhat the Butler Saw
Full-Length Play, Comedy / 2f, 4m
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Fred and Madge
Joe Orton
Full-Length Play, DramaFred and Madge
Full-Length Play, Drama / 4f, 6m
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Entertaining Mr Sloane (50th Anniversary Edition)