The Stage

Lucas to star in new play about Joe Orton

Published Monday 22 June 2009 at 11:16 by Lalayn Baluch

Little Britain comedian Matt Lucas is set to star as actor Kenneth Halliwell in Simon Bent’s new play about the life of Joe Orton, which will open at the Comedy Theatre this September following a regional tour.

Lucas will appear in Prick Up Your Ears alongside Chris New, who will be taking the role of playwright Orton. Casting for the third and final role of Mrs Corden, the neighbour, will be announced shortly.

In 1967, Halliwell sensationally bludgeoned Orton to death before committing suicide.

Prick Up Your Ears explores the relationship between the two artists, who met at RADA in 1951 while training to be actors, their domestic life in a small Islington flat, and their campaign to ‘improve’ the area’s literary scene by stealing and modifying books from the local library.

The play is based on a biography of the same name about Orton, written by American theatre critic John Lahr, and the playwright’s own diaries.

Orton is best known for his black comedies, which inspired the phrase Ortonesque, including The Ruffian on the Stair, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot and What the Butler Saw. His novels include Head to Toe and Between us Girls.

Prick Up Your Ears will open at the Richmond Theatre on August 26, before travelling to the Lowry in Salford, and the Theatre Royal Brighton. It will then transfer to the West End’s Comedy Theatre on September 17, where it will run until December 6.