Loot (Modern Classics)

Product Information

I’ve never felt so vulnerable’ … Sinead Matthews as conniving nurse Fay, Ian Redford as the widowed McLeavy and Sam Frenchum as son Hal, with Anah Ruddin in the coffin. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian

Gilbert, Gerard (24 May 1998). "Any face you want, except the real one". independent.co.uk . Retrieved 28 June 2023. To mark the 50th anniversary of the London premiere of the Leicester-born playwright's ground-breaking play Loot, there was a small display of material from the Orton Archiveat the University of Leicester. In 1970, The Sunday Times reported that four days before the murder, Orton had told a friend that he wanted to end his relationship with Halliwell, but did not know how to go about it. On 9 August 1967, Halliwell bludgeoned to death the 34-year-old Orton at their home in Noel Road with nine hammer blows to the head. Halliwell then killed himself with an overdose of Nembutal. [33] Wiegand, Chris; "How to play dead: the corpse’s view of Joe Orton’s Loot", The Guardian, 7 September 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2018Barnes, Liam (9 August 2017). "The subversive genius of Joe Orton". BBC News . Retrieved 20 July 2019. The play had its first Broadway production in New York at the Biltmore Theatre. [4] It opened on 18 March 1968. [4] Kenneth Cranham played Hal (as he had in the 1966 London production), James Hunter played Dennis, Liam Redmond played McLeavy, Carole Shelley played Fay, George Rose played Truscott, and Norman Barrs played Meadows. [4] It was directed by Derek Goldby and designed by William Ritmann. [4] The play was profiled in the William Goldman book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway. A Ceremony" by Leonie Barnett, Entertaining Mr. Sloane Programme, Ambassadors' Theatre Group, 2009.

It was 35 years ago today: Nihilism with a smile". The Independent. London. 9 May 1999. Archived from the original on 9 June 2022. In Joe Orton’s dark farce Loot, I’m playing a corpse. Mrs McLeavy is her name, and she’s at the centre of a bank robbery involving her son, a fellow thief, her husband and a nurse. When the play was first performed, the lord chamberlain insisted that a mannequin be used as the corpse, rather than casting an actor. We’re presenting the play as Orton intended, with other cuts also reinstated. Lootis an example of a playwright working at his best. It's a farcical romp, still absolutely relevant today...This robust, riotous outing is much-welcome"★★★★WhatsOnStage

Sinead Matthews

At the suggestion of Halliwell's family, Peggy Ramsay asked Orton's brother Douglas if Orton and Halliwell's ashes could be mixed. Douglas agreed, "As long as nobody hears about it in Leicester." [39] The mixed ashes were scattered [40] in section 3-C of the Garden of Remembrance at Golders Green. There is no memorial. [41] Biography and film, radio, TV [ edit ] Joe Orton was born on 1 January 1933 at Causeway Lane Maternity Hospital, Leicester, to William Arthur Orton and Elsie Mary Orton (née Bentley). William worked for Leicester County Borough Council as a gardener and Elsie worked in the local footwear industry until tuberculosis cost her a lung. At the time of Joe's birth, William and Mary were living with William's family at 261 Avenue Road Extension in Clarendon Park, Leicester. Joe's younger brother, Douglas, was born in 1935. That year, the Ortons moved to 9 Fayrhurst Road on the Saffron Lane Estate, a council estate. Orton's younger sisters, Marilyn and Leonie, were born in 1939 and 1944, respectively. [7] In 1966, Orton began again to write a diary (something he had started earlier in life). These later chapters, whilst being a frank and open account of his life, are also well-crafted literary works. They record, among other things the difficulties he experienced in his relationship with Halliwell, but give no clue that the nature of his death at the age of 34, could have been foreseen. The facts of the matter are that in August 1967, Halliwell killed him by repeatedly hitting him about the head with a hammer. Halliwell then took his own life with an overdose and 2 lives and a promising career were brought to an untimely end. Definitive weapons-grade offensive Orton. Would Joe be proud with this production? Undoubtedly" ★★★★ QX Magazine