Joe Orton double bill to mark the 50th anniversary death of the playwright in 1967: The Erpingham Camp and The Ruffian on the Stair, R3, 21,00-23.00hrs, Sunday, 2 July. Programme also includes an interview with Kenneth Cranham, a friend of the author, suitably outrageous in the revival of Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Duke of York's Theatre as the leather clad biker! Orton and his ilk quickly attracted the ire of Mary Whitehouse and the Festival of Light contingency. Must have a shufti of The Orton Diaries before the weekend as the broadcast will be a good opportunity to test the durability of the playwright.
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Well, I am listening to the double bill now, Stanley, and frankly, I am incredulous at the reputation.
And the dull, dull interview with Kenneth Cranham............
Why was Orton's stuff 'shocking'.........? erm, just do not get it.
Is it really worth revisiting?
Genuinely surprised.Last edited by DracoM; 02-07-17, 21:55. -
Thanks, Draco. Damn, damn, damn! Quite forgot about last night's broadcast, although I did record Janacek's Sinfonietta, BAL choice, earlier in the day.
In mitigation, I've just spent several days building a DVD portfolio of Laurence Olivier's days of glory at the RNT in the 60s & 70s; Long Day's Journey Into Night, The Three Sisters, Merchant of Venice, but reached a frustrating sticking point, yesterday, with Uncle Vanya. 1963, which required several hours of persistence, to transfer to HD from a finalised disc, typically commercially unavailable at present. Finally shrieked 'Eureka' and decided to do an instant transfer to DVD as a back-up copy. Job successfully completed last night - "For this relief, much thanks"!
Back on topic. Joe Orton. We really won't know whether the time is really out-of-joint for him until, say, the 2030s. Beyond an amusing cheeky-chappie appeal, I recall a sense of Restoration Theatre anarchy when I first saw Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Arts Theatre, early 60s; the production quickly transferred round the corner for a long run at Wyndham's Theatre. His work matched a sense of renaissance in a new era. Disaster struck when What The Butler Saw opened at the Queen's Theatre, 1969 - I attended the opening night with a posh West End cast, Ralph Richardson, Coral Browne, Stanley Baxter, at the Queen's Theatre who were all-at-sea with its zaniness. The Gallery First Night mafia got restless and barracked the performance. However, a few years later, Lindsay Anderson directed a revival for the Royal Court Theatre which enjoyed a long run when it transferred to Wyndham's Th. Probably better seen in performance when the farcical elements can be savoured. Loot also died a death on its pre-West End tour with Kenneth Williams but triumphed in an instant revival when its basic anarchy was understood. Worth persisting in the meantime, although I think I'll give the iPlayer a miss on this occasion.
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It just seemed so unbelievably dated!
Humour, satire, agitprop etc has come on / out so much since then, that his sniggering Frankie Howerd 'naughty' seemed so much further away than mere last century.
Was genuinely surprised at my own reactions as I listened. In London as a student, I saw a number of the shows you talk about, felt amused, sensed a smidge of daring, but not being part of the incipient gay community emergence, maybe I missed much of this 'daring', or maybe felt it irrelevant to me?
Having come back to giving a real listen to Orton after something like 50 years of not listening to Orton, I fear I found it dull, one-liner wearisome stuff. I truly wondered how on earth he had gained, indeed maintained in some quarters, the reputation he had.
But bully for R3 in showcasing it at all.Comment
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Loot was shocking in 1966, because of its irreverence toward death - which was then a much greater taboo than it is today. I think that aspect of the play still has the power to make an audience slightly queasy.
Entertaining Mr. Sloane can work well when played as a creepy drama rather than as a comedy. The most recent West End revival (2009) reminded me what a verbose and over-long play it is - it could make its points in half the time.
The rest of Orton's work - including the much-vaunted but not actually very funny What the Butler Saw - is inconsistent to put it kindly. I think it is fair comment that he would receive much less attention today had he not been the victim of a sensational murder.
The one work of Orton's which is absolutely essential, I'd say, is his Diary, which I find compulsively readable. It is strongly recommendable, for those with broad minds.Comment
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