Orton, Joe (1933-1967), was a controversial English playwright known for his savage “black” comedies. Orton gained recognition with his satirical attacks on social institutions and moral corruption. He often employed bizarre sexual images that brought accusations of vulgarity and bad taste from audiences and critics. But Orton was also praised for his witty and elegant language. He wrote only a few plays before he was murdered by Kenneth Halliwell, his long-time companion, apparently in a fit of jealousy over Orton’s success.
John Kingsley Orton was born in Leicester, England. He and Halliwell collaborated on a number of novels, but none were published. Orton had his first dramatic success with the radio play The Ruffian on the Stairs (1964, produced on the stage in 1966). His stage reputation rests on three plays, Entertaining Mr. Sloane (1964), Loot (1965), and What the Butler Saw (produced in 1969, after his death). Entertaining Mr. Sloane deals with a young murderer and his involvement with his landlady and her brother, a relationship dominated by lust and eventually blackmail. In Loot, a robber conceals stolen goods in his mother’s coffin. What the Butler Saw is a nightmarish farce that takes place in a psychiatric clinic. Orton also wrote several short plays.
