Joe Orton was just 34 when he was battered to death in August 1967; had he lived, he would almost certainly have become one of the greatest dramatists of his age. But Orton had a dark side, and it was this that contributed in no small measure to his untimely demise.
This play begins with his murder and then fast forwards twenty years. Orton was killed by his male "lover" Kenneth Halliwell, who took his own life immediately afterwards. They may have lived together, written together, and ultimately died together, but that was as far as their similarities went, because while Halliwell was a lost soul, tortured by his homosexuality, Orton revelled in it, and in a brazen depravity which would have made him a more than suitable target for the "Operation Yewtree" witch-hunt that ensued nearly a half century after his death.
Orton's diaries were published by John Lahr in 1986, and depraved they are. This TV dramatisation revolves largely around the diaries and their publication, covering Orton's early life briefly, how he met Halliwell at RADA - for which Orton had won a scholarship - their failed collaboration on literary works, and their bizarre crimes for which they were each sentenced to six months imprisonment, and which paradoxically was the making of Orton. (Neither the first nor the last time that has happened).
"Prick Up Your Ears" - an obvious anagram just in case it was not obvious to you - strives for authenticity, and succeeds. Fortunately the play/film does not dwell on Orton's cottaging misadventures, though it does show him and Halliwell in Morocco doing unspeakable things with young men, at least some of whom were underage. Although the Beatles do not appear herein, we do see Brian Epstein, who while himself homosexual had nothing but contempt for Orton, and would not allow him to sully the image of his charges. Sadly, he would die a mere 18 days after Orton, in dissimilar but equally controversial circumstances.
"Prick Up Your Ears" is a worthy biographical document, but don't watch it unless you have a strong stomach.
This play begins with his murder and then fast forwards twenty years. Orton was killed by his male "lover" Kenneth Halliwell, who took his own life immediately afterwards. They may have lived together, written together, and ultimately died together, but that was as far as their similarities went, because while Halliwell was a lost soul, tortured by his homosexuality, Orton revelled in it, and in a brazen depravity which would have made him a more than suitable target for the "Operation Yewtree" witch-hunt that ensued nearly a half century after his death.
Orton's diaries were published by John Lahr in 1986, and depraved they are. This TV dramatisation revolves largely around the diaries and their publication, covering Orton's early life briefly, how he met Halliwell at RADA - for which Orton had won a scholarship - their failed collaboration on literary works, and their bizarre crimes for which they were each sentenced to six months imprisonment, and which paradoxically was the making of Orton. (Neither the first nor the last time that has happened).
"Prick Up Your Ears" - an obvious anagram just in case it was not obvious to you - strives for authenticity, and succeeds. Fortunately the play/film does not dwell on Orton's cottaging misadventures, though it does show him and Halliwell in Morocco doing unspeakable things with young men, at least some of whom were underage. Although the Beatles do not appear herein, we do see Brian Epstein, who while himself homosexual had nothing but contempt for Orton, and would not allow him to sully the image of his charges. Sadly, he would die a mere 18 days after Orton, in dissimilar but equally controversial circumstances.
"Prick Up Your Ears" is a worthy biographical document, but don't watch it unless you have a strong stomach.