Biography EssayBetween 1963 and his death in 1967 Joe Orton wrote three important and four lesser plays. In the tolerant theatrical climate of the 1960s, he persuaded audiences that homosexuality, inc...
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In the following essay, a report of a 1965 interview, Loney and the playwright talk about Entertaining Mr. Sloane, Orton's interest in the works of Jane Austen, the genre of black comedy, Orton...
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In the following essay, McCray discusses the cynicism of most of Orton's work, suggesting that much of it derives from Orton's own life experience.
I assure you that it is possible to dr...
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In the following essay, Walcot discusses the “Greek” character of both Orton's work and his relationship with Kenneth Halliwell.
I always say to myself that the theatre is the Tem...
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In the following review, Steinberg points to the scatological, erotic, and satiric themes in Head to Toe, hailing Orton as an important literary talent.
A cross between Gulliver and Alice, Orton...
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In the following review, Annan touches on John Lahr's biography of Orton and its film version, as well as The Orton Diaries and Head to Toe.
“I'm inclined to think,” Joe Or...
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In the following excerpt from a review of two plays, Brustein comments that, in light of the shock value of contemporary entertainment, Orton's work seems less outrageous than it once did.
An e...
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In the following excerpt from a review of several plays, Simon presents an unfavorable assessment of the stage version of Up against It.
Up Against It was a screenplay, the last work of Joe Orton befo...
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In the following essay, Sinfield deals with the ways in which Orton's plays increased awareness of and toleration for homosexual culture, while at the same time limiting his audience.
OSCAR Wil...
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In the following review, Duplain points to the well-structured plot and comic timing of Entertaining Mr. Sloane.
“Three repulsive folk well acted”: for once the tone of twee outrage abou...
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In the following review of a 1994 Chicago production of Up Against It, Bain says that the former screenplay does not translate easily into the stage version.
His supposed depravity explicitly countere...
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In the following essay, Rusinko reviews previous critical opinion of What the Butler Saw, connecting the play with a theatrical tradition of farce and with the social unrest of the 1960s.
RANCE:
...
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In the following essay, Stirling applies theoretical standards drawn by Mikhail Bakhtin about the plays of Rabelais to those of Orton; while Orton's philosophy is more grim than Rabelais'...
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In the following review, Keates comments on a posthumous novel, Between Us Girls, and two posthumous plays, Fred and Madge and The Visitors.
What would have become of John Kingsley Orton if his lover ...
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In the following review of Between Us Girls, Fred and Madge, and The Visitors, O'Connor offers a mostly favorable assessment of all three works.
Joe Orton kept pages of notes—words or ph...
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In the following review, Helfer says that Fred and Madge deserves staging but is less enthusiastic about Between Us Girls and The Visitors.
Like Hemingway, Joe Orton is having a prolific posthumous ca...
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In the following review, Hutchings says that Between Us Girls is noteworthy only as a minor addition to Orton's body of work.
Written in 1957 and now published for the first time over thirty ye...
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In the following essay, Greenberg presents an overview of several Orton plays, emphasizing the comedic shock value of Orton's style.
Joe Orton, dubbed ‘the Oscar Wilde of Welfare State G...
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In the following essay, Innes discusses the farcical elements of Orton's plays, noting that his outrageous situations and characters celebrated anarchy in their depiction of the universality of...
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Critical Essay by David Harsent
[Daughters of Men is] a very good example of Orton's black, farcical style. A neat flight of fancy puts authority, the family, class divisions and the church und...
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Joe Orton
