'Orton Fallen Angel' is being performed at Hope Street Theatre, situated in the heart of Liverpool. An excellent venue, particularly for new plays to be performed, before going on to much bigger theatres. 'Orton Fallen Angel' was produced by Wes Williams, who is the Artistic Director of Grin Theatre, the longest runninb LGBTQ theatre company in Liverpool.
'Orton Fallen Angel' was directed by James Lee Jarman, whose passion and vision for the play could be clearly demonstrated in his direction of the play. He has done a marvellous job in getting the play on to the stage. He also utilised the stage space very well for all the different scenes in the show. Using minimal props worked well as all the focus was on the actors delivering their dialogue and their actions in the given situations.
Written by Wes Williams, he gave us an excellent insight into what happened between lovers, Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell on that fatal night. He also delved into their backgrounds and what could possibly lead to the catastrophic event. The writing was really good and a great deal of research was clearly notable in the show. Adding the funny character of Edna Welthorpe was a stroke of genius and provided much needed comedy.
The cast of 'Orton Fallen Angel' consisted of two central characters, iconic gay playwright Joe Orton (Terence Conchie) and his partner, Kenneth Halliwell (Christopher Hogan). The other two characters were Man (Taylor Illingworth) and Voice (Keegan Dixon). The chemistry and dynamics of the two leading actors was very good. Both Illingworth and Dixon showed their versatility by playing numerous characters throughout the show by switching accents and mannerisms between the characters.The acting of the cast was of a good standard too. Having such a small cast was a great concept as it allowed for the characters of Joe and Kenneth to be fully explored and developed.
Based on true events and incidents centred around Joe and Kenneth’s turbulent relationship, they delved into their lives together and explored what eventually tore them apart. Joe started the play by doing a monologue charting his birth and early childhood memories of his parents.
Whilst Joe was in relationship with Kenneth, he was extremely promiscuous, which had a severe effect on Kenneth’s mental health. A significant point in their relationship was they started to surreptitiously remove books from local libraries and modify the cover art or blurbs before returning them. Their pranks were soon discovered and they were prosecuted on five counts of theft and malicious damage. They both admitted damaging more than seventy library books and were subsequently sentenced to six months in prison.
Prison life proved to be a crucial formative experience, particularly for Joe as the separation from Kenneth allowed him to be extremely creative. When they finished their sentences in prison, Joe and Kenneth were soon reunited. Inevitably, Joe resumed his cottaging incidents and promiscuous behaviour and Kenneth’s mental health deteriorated. These instances proved to have devastating consequences on their relationship.
The main running theme in Orton Fallen Angel was relationships and how best to deal with them, given certain situations and looking for a possible resolution to their problems. The show had everything you’d expect from a good play: friction, emotion conflict, drama, comedy elements and a few delicate issues, such as mental health, domestic violence, and suicide, which were handled extremely sensitivity.
Well done to Emily Kelly, who did a brilliant job with all the lighting and sound aspects. I particularly liked how the lights were moved swiftly and focusing on a certain characters doing their scenes All dialogue could be clearly heard throughout the show. Make-up for the actors was applied by Jessica Mangan and Hayley Grimshaw -Lord. Simon James did an excellent job with all the marketing and publicity for the show as tonight’s performance had sold out.
On a final note, I really enjoyed 'Orton Fallen Angel' and would highly recommend you go and see the show. Adding the character of Joe Orton’s second self, Edna Welthorpe, was a welcome relief of comedy, given the strong subject matter of the show. It’s great news to hear the play will be showing at The Epstein Theatre in late January, which will give new audiences another opportunity to see it.
Guest reviewer - Mark Cooper
on - 30.11.21
'Orton Fallen Angel' was directed by James Lee Jarman, whose passion and vision for the play could be clearly demonstrated in his direction of the play. He has done a marvellous job in getting the play on to the stage. He also utilised the stage space very well for all the different scenes in the show. Using minimal props worked well as all the focus was on the actors delivering their dialogue and their actions in the given situations.
Written by Wes Williams, he gave us an excellent insight into what happened between lovers, Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell on that fatal night. He also delved into their backgrounds and what could possibly lead to the catastrophic event. The writing was really good and a great deal of research was clearly notable in the show. Adding the funny character of Edna Welthorpe was a stroke of genius and provided much needed comedy.
The cast of 'Orton Fallen Angel' consisted of two central characters, iconic gay playwright Joe Orton (Terence Conchie) and his partner, Kenneth Halliwell (Christopher Hogan). The other two characters were Man (Taylor Illingworth) and Voice (Keegan Dixon). The chemistry and dynamics of the two leading actors was very good. Both Illingworth and Dixon showed their versatility by playing numerous characters throughout the show by switching accents and mannerisms between the characters.The acting of the cast was of a good standard too. Having such a small cast was a great concept as it allowed for the characters of Joe and Kenneth to be fully explored and developed.
Based on true events and incidents centred around Joe and Kenneth’s turbulent relationship, they delved into their lives together and explored what eventually tore them apart. Joe started the play by doing a monologue charting his birth and early childhood memories of his parents.
Whilst Joe was in relationship with Kenneth, he was extremely promiscuous, which had a severe effect on Kenneth’s mental health. A significant point in their relationship was they started to surreptitiously remove books from local libraries and modify the cover art or blurbs before returning them. Their pranks were soon discovered and they were prosecuted on five counts of theft and malicious damage. They both admitted damaging more than seventy library books and were subsequently sentenced to six months in prison.
Prison life proved to be a crucial formative experience, particularly for Joe as the separation from Kenneth allowed him to be extremely creative. When they finished their sentences in prison, Joe and Kenneth were soon reunited. Inevitably, Joe resumed his cottaging incidents and promiscuous behaviour and Kenneth’s mental health deteriorated. These instances proved to have devastating consequences on their relationship.
The main running theme in Orton Fallen Angel was relationships and how best to deal with them, given certain situations and looking for a possible resolution to their problems. The show had everything you’d expect from a good play: friction, emotion conflict, drama, comedy elements and a few delicate issues, such as mental health, domestic violence, and suicide, which were handled extremely sensitivity.
Well done to Emily Kelly, who did a brilliant job with all the lighting and sound aspects. I particularly liked how the lights were moved swiftly and focusing on a certain characters doing their scenes All dialogue could be clearly heard throughout the show. Make-up for the actors was applied by Jessica Mangan and Hayley Grimshaw -Lord. Simon James did an excellent job with all the marketing and publicity for the show as tonight’s performance had sold out.
On a final note, I really enjoyed 'Orton Fallen Angel' and would highly recommend you go and see the show. Adding the character of Joe Orton’s second self, Edna Welthorpe, was a welcome relief of comedy, given the strong subject matter of the show. It’s great news to hear the play will be showing at The Epstein Theatre in late January, which will give new audiences another opportunity to see it.
Guest reviewer - Mark Cooper
on - 30.11.21
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