Sir Ian McKellen and Stephen Fry lend support for statue of gay playwright

A host of celebrities have come out in support of a Joe Orton statue to commemorate the gay playwright’s legacy.

One of the most influential writers to hit the London stage, Joe Orton was a master of the black comedy and satire with his work instantly cementing itself in the canon of British theatre. Born in Leicester and raised on Saffron Lane council state, from humble beginnings and following a stint behind bars, his career was provocative and outrageous right up until his tragic murder.

Having not enjoyed great success in his early education after failing the eleven-plus exam following an extended bout of asthma, Orton began his career as a junior clerk working for a meagre £3 a week. He soon developed an interest in performing after becoming involved with a bunch of dramatic societies, including the prestigious Leicester Dramatic Society. It was during this time that he decided to transform himself and drastically improve his appearance and physique with bodybuilding courses and taking elocution lessons to redress his lack of education. At the age of seventeen, he gained for a scholarship at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) and left the East Midlands behind for London. 

It was at RADA that Orton met his long-time partner Kenneth Halliwell who would be with him until his last days. In their second year, the two moved into a West Hampstead flat together. Halliwell was seven years Orton’s senior and was a man of means, having a substantial inheritance. The two had an instant connection and formed a strong relationship, later becoming lovers. After graduating, the two went their separate ways for a few short months working in regional theatres, though ultimately returning to London and began to write together. Their collaborative novels saw little success, leading the two to write solo works which were also unsuccessful.

With their hopes of literary notoriety dashed, the two lived in Halliwell’s money and unemployment benefits, which didn’t amount to much. The two led an ascetic life spending only £5 a week, only working a six-month stretch at Cadbury’s to raise funds for a new flat in Islington in 1959. It was during this time of sporadic work and extended periods of idleness that the two began amusing themselves with pranks and hoaxes. They began swapping out cover art of books at their local library, modifying their blurbs and in one case returning a volume of John Betjeman poems with a dust cover featuring a naked, heavily-tattooed, middle-aged man. The two were punished harshly for their mischief and were sentenced to six months in prison and fined £262. Orton and Halliwell believed that they received such a severe punishment “because we were queers”. 

Prison turned out to be a formative time for Orton, and away from Halliwell’s influence, he was creatively free to explore what he saw as corruption and the double standards of Britain. Themes he would later explore in his theatrical work. Once he was released from prison, he began writing plays, with his first commission broadcasting on BBC radio in 1964. This first achievement inspired him to churn out some of his best-loved works, from Entertaining Mr Sloane and ultimately Loot.

Joe Orton (left) and Kenneth Halliwell (right) on holiday in Tangier, Morocco with Carry On actor Kenneth Williams.

Though not without their complicated relationship with critics, his works were wildly popular with audiences. His work touched on his homosexuality and the hipocricy of the British society that outcast him for it. He made a career of deliberate bad tasete, surreal situation adn these attacks on hipocracy with the The Times describing Entertaining Mr Sloane as “making the blood boil more than any other British play in the last 10 years.”

Orton met an untimely end in 1967 when his lover Kenneth Halliwell bludgeoned him to daeth with a hammer in their home, before killing himself with an overdose of Nembutal. The murder-suicide sent shockwaves through the London theatre scene, making headlines across the country. It has been speculated that it was Orton’s success and Halliwell’s jealously was what led to the incident. In Halliwell’s suicide note, he asked that they read Orton’s diary “all would be explained”. The unpublished diary describes numerous incidents of cottaging in public toilets and other casual sexual encounters, which is presumed to be what Halliwell was alluding to.

Following his death, a pedestrian concourse in from of the Curve theatre, Leicester was renamed Orton Square. Now a fundraising campaign is under way to errect a statue of Orton in the square.

Acting legend Sir Ian Mckellen is an active supporter of the fundraising campaign saying: “’The idea that in Orton Square there should be a statue, a memorial to Joe Orton, is terrific”. Actor and Writer Stephen Fry also added: “Joe Orton has always been a hero to me, both in his work and in the authenticity, wit and wonder of his life. A statue is a wonderful idea”

The statue would be one of the very few memorials of LGBT+ icons in the UK, and a fund-raising platform has been set up to meet the projected £100,000 cost to design, create and site the statue. The Joe Orton Statue Appeal was launched on the 25th of July where special guests were joined by Sir Ian McKellen and Leoni Orton. Those wishing to pledge can do so at SpaceHive.com/Joe-Orton-Statue-Appeal

DRAMA QUEENS: PART 10: 1960s Gay Theatre

 

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