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Topic History of: Joe Orton - Laid Bare
Max. showing the last 5 posts - (Last post first)
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JK2006 |
No never did. But in my play Brian Epstein has a pivotal role. |
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david |
A great programme- really interesting from the point of view of examining Orton's time in the limelight and his public life, but (as far as my limited knowledge goes) not great at digging much deeper than the received opinion that Orton was the handsome, gifted playwright and Halliwell he unhinged hanger on who killed him.
I had a few off the record conversations about 10 years ago with a family member and others who knew him, and the person(s) I talked to strove to redress the balance, stressing not only what a pivotal influence Halliwell had been in terms of Orton's writing and general culture- a mentor- but also that, however bizarre and dysfunctional their relationship was, they were always pretty inseparable.
One person who knew them both told me words to the effect that 'If it had been the 21st century, Ken would have been on medication and would have been fine' Mental health as we know it didn't exist back then, but Halliwell's GP was seriously concerned about him in the days before the murder/suicide, so much so that he tried in vain to contact him on the night of the murder/suicide (I hadn't heard or read that before or since, but I was told by someone who knew).
One other thing that was possibly hinted upon in the programme but possibly not as much as it should have been, was the fact that his diaries, although apparently more or less truthful, were written with the intention of them being published one day, and so were very image-conscious. One person told me that the Orton we see in the diaries is partly truthful but partly a construct.... as are the photos of him portraying himself as a kind of working class sex god, when actually he was softly spoken and quite gentle by nature.
Orton and Halliwell were certainly one of the most fascinating couples in 20th century British culture.
Did you ever meet Orton, JK? |
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JK2006 |
I've written a musical It's Good News Week based on Halliwell not dying at all. |
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hedda |
their 'defaced' library books were very clever..
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JK2006 |
www.theartsdesk.com/tv/joe-orton-laid-ba...irresistible-upstart |
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