Orton: Fallen Angel – Epstein Theatre
A bill finally decriminalising homosexuality in England and Wales received Royal Ascent in late July 1967. Less than three weeks later gay playwright Joe Orton was murdered by his partner Kenneth Halliwell. Within days the life of closeted Beatles manager Brian Epstein would also be tragically cut short. How apt then that a play exploring Orton’s horrific killing has found a home at Liverpool’s Epstein Theatre.
Wes Williams' Orton: Fallen Angel looks back at the life and death of the Leicester-born author and his lover and asks the audience to imagine how Orton’s untimely demise could have come to pass.
One gets a sense of the tone of the evening straight away. A near empty stage apart from four chairs, a couple of books and a leather jacket foreshadows the unapologetically stark dir...