THE EVENT
Yours Faithfully,
Edna Welthorpe (Mrs)
On 9 August 2017, actors, writers and comedians gathered at The Little Theatre, Leicester, to celebrate the life, work and legacy of Joe Orton 50 years after his death.
The venue for the event has special significance since, in 1949, Joe (then John) Orton performed in Shakespeare’s Richard III at The Little Theatre as a member of Leicester Drama Society.
Actor Frances Barber, who played Leonie Orton in the film Prick Up Your Ears (1987), read the original Edna Welthorpe letters; Chris Shepherd screened his new animation inspired by Orton’s work; authors read their new Edna letters; Leonie Orton shared memories of her brother’s pranks in Leicester; David Quantick and Graham Fellows (John Shuttleworth) discussed Orton’s impact on contemporary comedy.
LISTEN TO THE LETTERS
Hear a recording of Frances Barber reading the new letters live on stage, 9th August 2017 at The Little Theatre.
Read the new Edna Welthorpe letters here.
THE EVENT
Yours Faithfully,
Edna Welthorpe (Mrs)
On 9 August 2017, actors, writers and comedians gathered at The Little Theatre, Leicester, to celebrate the life, work and legacy of Joe Orton 50 years after his death.
The venue for the event has special significance since, in 1949, Joe (then John) Orton performed in Shakespeare’s Richard III at The Little Theatre as a member of Leicester Drama Society.
Actor Frances Barber, who played Leonie Orton in the film Prick Up Your Ears (1987), read the original Edna Welthorpe letters; Chris Shepherd screened his new animation inspired by Orton’s work; authors read their new Edna letters; Leonie Orton shared memories of her brother’s pranks in Leicester; David Quantick and Graham Fellows (John Shuttleworth) discussed Orton’s impact on contemporary comedy.
IMAGE BY TIM YOUD
LISTEN TO THE LETTERS
Hear a recording of Frances Barber reading the new letters live on stage, 9th August 2017 at The Little Theatre.
Read the new Edna Welthorpe letters here.
ALEC BALDWIN
A very special message from Hollywood icon Alec Baldwin to the Leicester audience at the Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) event.
Watch an interview with Alec Baldwin about his interest in Joe Orton’s work with Dr Emma Parker.
READ ALEC BALDWIN'S EDNA WELTHORPE LETTER
ALEC BALDWIN
A very special message from Hollywood icon Alec Baldwin to the Leicester audience at the Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) event.
Watch an interview with Alec Baldwin about his interest in Joe Orton’s work with Dr Emma Parker.
READ ALEC BALDWIN'S EDNA LETTER
ALEC BALDWIN
A very special message from Hollywood icon Alec Baldwin to the Leicester audience at the Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) event.
Watch an interview with Alec Baldwin about his interest in Joe Orton’s work with Dr Emma Parker.
Read Alec Baldwin’s Edna Welthorpe letter
READ
ABOUT THE EVENT
Wednesday 9 August 2017, 7pm
Introduced by Emma Parker
The Little Theatre
Dover St, Leicester, LE1 6PW
ON THE NIGHT
Images from Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthorpe (Mrs),
an event staged at The Little Theatre, Leicester on 9 August 2017.
ABOUT THE EVENT
Wednesday 9 August 2017, 7pm
Introduced by Emma Parker
The Little Theatre
Dover St, Leicester, LE1 6PW
ON THE NIGHT
Images from Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthorpe (Mrs), an event staged at The Little Theatre, Leicester on 9 August 2017.
FRANCES BARBER
Frances Barber has appeared in many plays, including Joe Orton’s What The Butler Saw; That Face, for which she won a 2010 Nomination for TMA Theatre Award for Best Performance in a Play; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, for which she won a Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards 2005 Best Actress nomination; Closer to Heaven, which earned her a What’s On Stage Award Best Actress in a Musical award; Uncle Vanya, for which she won a 1996 TMA Regional Award for Best Supporting Actress and a 1996 Olivier Best Supporting Actress nomination; Imagine Drowning, winner of the 1991 John Whiting Award for Best New Play; Camille, for which she won a 1984 Olivier Award for Most Promising Newcomer.
Her numerous television credits include Father Brown; Medici: Masters of Florence; Mapp and Lucia; Psychobitches and The Spa; Silk; Doctor Who; Midsomer Murders; A Passionate Woman; The Fattest Man in Britain; The Street III and Funland; Boudica; Love in a Cold Climate; and 10 series of Bremner, Bird and Fortune for Channel Four.
Her film credits include The Escape; The Bookshop; Blue Iguana; Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool; El Elegido (The Chosen), Mr. Holmes; Happy Toys; May I Kill U?; Goal! 1& 2; Suzie Gold; Superstition; Shiner; Still Crazy; Photographing Fairies; Soft Top, Hard Shoulder; Sammy & Rosie Get Laid; A Zed and Two Noughts; The Missionary. She also played Leonie Orton in Prick Up Your Ears, the biopic about Joe Orton by Alan Bennett, based on the biography by John Lahr.
GRAHAM FELLOWS
Graham Fellows is an actor and writer best known for his comic creation John Shuttleworth who starred in the hit series 500 Bus Stops (BBC 2) and the award-winning radio series The Shuttleworths (BBC Radio 4), which was nominated for a Sony Award and Writer’s Guild Award, Radio Shuttleworth and John Shuttleworth’s Open Mind, which was nominated for Best Radio Comedy at the North West Comedy Awards. Graham’s single ‘Jilted John’ reached number 4 in the UK charts in 1978 and his other characters include Brian Appleton. Graham is a winner of the Manchester Evening News Comedy Award and he is a Perrier Award nominee. He recently guested on the BBC1 series Count Arthur Strong. Graham has been described as ‘The man who does for the Bon Tempi organ what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar’ (The Guardian).
GRAHAM FELLOWS
Graham Fellows is an actor and writer best known for his comic creation John Shuttleworth who starred in the hit series 500 Bus Stops (BBC 2) and the award-winning radio series The Shuttleworths (BBC Radio 4), which was nominated for a Sony Award and Writer’s Guild Award, Radio Shuttleworth and John Shuttleworth’s Open Mind, which was nominated for Best Radio Comedy at the North West Comedy Awards. Graham’s single ‘Jilted John’ reached number 4 in the UK charts in 1978 and his other characters include Brian Appleton. Graham is a winner of the Manchester Evening News Comedy Award and he is a Perrier Award nominee. He recently guested on the BBC1 series Count Arthur Strong. Graham has been described as ‘The man who does for the Bon Tempi organ what Jimi Hendrix did for the guitar’ (The Guardian).
DAVID QUANTICK
David Quantick won an Emmy as part of the writing team on Veep, a BAFTA for Harry Hill’s TV Burp and a Writers’ Guild Award for The Thick of It.
His recent books How To Write Everything and How to be A Writer (Oberon) are indispensable, accessible and funny. He has written for everyone from The Duke of Edinburgh to Chris Morris. He writes and appears on ‘The Now Show’, writes ‘The 15 Minute Musical’ (both for Radio 4), as well as his own radio shows, ‘The Blagger’s Guide’ for Radio 2, and ‘One’ and ‘52 First Impressions’, both on Radio 4.
David is a much-admired music journalist, cultural commentator and an acclaimed best-selling author thanks to the Grumpy Old Men series of books and his new thriller The Mule, which was published through Unbound. He wrote the comedy drama, Snodgrass, starring Ian Hart, which is currently being developed as a feature and he’s been commissioned to write a new play for Northern Stage.
READ DAVID'S EDNA WELTHORPE LETTER
DAVID QUANTICK
David Quantick won an Emmy as part of the writing team on Veep, a BAFTA for Harry Hill’s TV Burp and a Writers’ Guild Award for The Thick of It.
His recent books How To Write Everything and How to be A Writer (Oberon) are indispensable, accessible and funny. He has written for everyone from The Duke of Edinburgh to Chris Morris. He writes and appears on ‘The Now Show’, writes ‘The 15 Minute Musical’ (both for Radio 4), as well as his own radio shows, ‘The Blagger’s Guide’ for Radio 2, and ‘One’ and ‘52 First Impressions’, both on Radio 4.
David is a much-admired music journalist, cultural commentator and an acclaimed best-selling author thanks to the Grumpy Old Men series of books and his new thriller The Mule, which was published through Unbound. He wrote the comedy drama, Snodgrass, starring Ian Hart, which is currently being developed as a feature and he’s been commissioned to write a new play for Northern Stage.
READ DAVID’S EDNA WELTHORPE LETTER
READ
LEONIE ORTON
Born in October 1944, Leonie Orton is the youngest sister of the playwright Joe Orton. For a number of years she has been responsible for administering the Orton Estate and works tirelessly to keep his memory alive. She grew up with Joe and two other siblings on the Saffron Lane Estate in Leicester, but as a girl the odds were stacked against her. Leaving school at the age of 15 she worked full-time in a hosiery factory and married at a young age. Almost entirely self-educated she took an Open University course as an adult and worked as a library assistant in the University of Leicester. Her memoir, I Had It In Me, was published in 2016 to positive reviews and called in for consideration for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Leonie will be reading from her memoir at the 2017 Edinburgh International Book Festival. She now lives in Norfolk.
LEONIE ORTON
Born in October 1944, Leonie Orton is the youngest sister of the playwright Joe Orton. For a number of years she has been responsible for administering the Orton Estate and works tirelessly to keep his memory alive. She grew up with Joe and two other siblings on the Saffron Lane Estate in Leicester, but as a girl the odds were stacked against her. Leaving school at the age of 15 she worked full-time in a hosiery factory and married at a young age. Almost entirely self-educated she took an Open University course as an adult and worked as a library assistant in the University of Leicester. Her memoir, I Had It In Me, was published in 2016 to positive reviews and called in for consideration for the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Leonie will be reading from her memoir at the 2017 Edinburgh International Book Festival. She now lives in Norfolk.
The event was funded by the University of Leicester
and Arts Council England.
The event was funded by the University of Leicester and Arts Council England.
