Prick Up Your Ears | |
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![]() West End Poster | |
Written by | Simon Bent |
Date premiered | 30 September 2009 |
Original language | English |
Subject | Joe Orton |
Genre | Dark comedy |
Official site |
Prick Up Your Ears is a play by Simon Bent, based on the life of playwright Joe Orton. Produced by Sonia Friedman it opened at the Comedy Theatre in London's West End on 30 September 2009 following previews from 17 September, it closed in November 2009. It starred Chris New as Joe Orton and Matt Lucas as Orton's lover and murderer, Kenneth Halliwell.
According to actor Chris New, the concept for a play came from New's roommate. New contacted actor and comedian Matt Lucas, who was looking to do a play. Simon Bent agreed to script the work, and Sonia Friedman came aboard as producer and Daniel Kramer as director. [1]
New played Orton in the original production. [2] [3]
Matt Lucas originally played the part of Kenneth Halliwell, but pulled out of the production following the death of his former partner. The part of Halliwell was played by Michael Chadwick until 22 October 2009. [4] Con O'Neill took over the role on 23 October. [5]
The play closed on 15 November due to declining ticket sales following Lucas's departure. [6]
John Kingsley Orton, known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist.
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Alfred Molina is a British actor known for his work on the stage and screen. He first rose to prominence in the West End, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play for his performance in the production of Oklahoma! in 1980. He made his film debut as Satipo in Raiders of the Lost Ark and his Broadway debut as Yvan in a production of Art from 1998 to 1999. His other Broadway roles include Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof from 2004 to 2005 and Mark Rothko in the play Red from 2009 to 2010.
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The Visitors is a 1961 one-act play by British playwright Joe Orton. The BBC and the Royal Court Theatre had considered the work but ultimately rejected it, despite both having insisted that the writing was "excellent." Orton's career took off in 1964 with the staging of his Entertaining Mr. Sloane, and The Visitors remained forgotten until its UK publication in 1998 by Nick Hern Books; a US edition from Grove Press followed in 1999.
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Sonia Friedman is a British West End and Broadway theatre producer. On 27 January 2017, Friedman was named Producer of the Year for the third year running at The Stage Awards, becoming the first person to win the award three times. In 2018, Friedman was featured in "TIME100", Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018 and was named Broadway Briefing's Show Person of the Year. In 2019, Sonia Friedman Productions was ranked The Stage 's most influential theatre producer in The Stage 100.
Chris New is an English film and stage actor best known for his starring role in the 2011 film Weekend. New made his screen writing and directorial debut in 2013 with the short film Ticking. He co-wrote the 2014 independent film Chicken, and co-wrote and directed the 2014 independent film A Smallholding.
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Simon Bent is a British screenwriter and playwright, notable for work including BBC TV drama Beau Brummell: This Charming Man (2006), the screenplay for the feature film Christie Malry's Own Double-Entry (2000), and the Joe Orton biographical play Prick Up Your Ears based on John Lahr's book.
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