Joe Orton

Kate Dorney (University of Manchester)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.09: English Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary Britain , 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Gina Lyle (University of Glasgow), Graham MacPhee (University of Manchester), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Jenni Ramone (The Nottingham Trent University)

Dates

Born 1 Jan 1933
Died 9 Aug 1967
Activity 1953-1967

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Cultural Identities

LGBTQ

Activities

Primary

Playwright / Dramatist

Resources

Orton's Works

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Joe Orton was born John Kingsley Orton in Leicester 1933. A gifted farceur and black humourist, Orton's major works are

Entertaining Mr Sloane

(1964),

Loot

(1966), and the posthumously produced

What the Butler Saw

(1969). His style mixed the comic business of farce with an incisive portrait of a society in transition amidst the social and sexual liberation of the 1960s and the linguistic anarchy unleashed by the burgeoning influence of the mass media. Terence Rattigan, amongst Orton's early admirers and champions, observed that: “What Orton had to say about England and society had never been said before. The first thing it showed was a society diminished by telly-technology. Everybody expresses themselves as if they were brought up on television.” Rattigan is referring here to…

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3266 words

Citation: Dorney, Kate. "Joe Orton". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 October 2005; last revised 03 July 2022. [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3432, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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