Selected plays by the great playwright Joe Orton, plus bonus material

Joe Orton was among the towering geniuses of 1960s theatre. His life was tragically cut short in 1967, but he left behind him a handful of shocking and scabrous black comedies that will live on in the public imagination for years to come. Orton’s career was kickstarted by the BBC. John Tydeman who is widely considered to have found him when working at the BBC as an trainee. He came across an early version of The Ruffian on the Stair called The Boy Hairdresser and persuaded his seniors to let him meet him and discuss the play, there began a friendship that shaped Orton’s life. Tydeman recommended a top literary agent and the rest is history.

Featured here are two of his lesser-known works, The Erpingham Camp and The Ruffian on the Stair, collected together as a double bill. The former, loosely based on Euripides’ tragedy The Bacchae, is an anarchic, subversive farce set in a holiday camp, where a group of campers decide to revolt against the dictatorial owner. It stars an ensemble cast, including Robert Daws and Jonjo O’Neill. In the latter, Orton’s breakthrough hit, an ex-boxer (Gerard Horan) and an ex-prostitute (Sophie Thompson) have their lives disrupted by a stranger (Jack Rowan). Recorded live at the BBC’s radio theatre in 2017 to mark the 50th anniversary of Orton's death, the plays are accompanied by an interview with Orton's friend, Kenneth Cranham, who discusses the Joe Orton he knew.

Also featured are the darkly comic Funeral Games, starring Phil Daniels, Martin Jarvis, Tony Rohr and Liza Sadovy, which takes a sideswipe at religious hypocrisy and is considered the linking work between his two key plays, Loot and What the Butler Saw. Plus, John Sessions reads extracts from Joe Orton’s posthumously published journals in The Orton Diaries; Ned Sherrin hears from Kenneth Williams about his experiences directing Loot in Kenneth Williams on Joe Orton, and Samira Akhmed talks to guests including Orton’s sister Leonie and Sheila Hancock about the playwright’s life and legacy in Front Row: Joe Orton.

Production credits
Text copyright © Joe Orton 1964 (The Ruffian on the Stair), 1966 (The Erpingham Camp), 1968 (Funeral Games), 1986 (The Orton Diaries)
All rights reserved

The Erpingham Camp
Erpingham – Robert Daws
Riley – Jonjo O'Neill
Lou – Kerry Gooderson
Ted – Samuel James
Kenny – Charlie Clements
Eileen – Sarah Ridgeway
W.E. Harrison – Tom Forrister
Jessie Mason – Sanchia McCormack
Padre – Simon Ludders
Accordion Player – Colin Guthrie

The Ruffian on the Stair
Mike – Gerard Horan
Joyce – Sophie Thompson
Wilson – Jack Rowan
Produced by Mary Peate
Kenneth Cranham interview by Matthew Sweet
First broadcast BBC Radio 3, 2 July 2017

Funeral Games
Caulfield – Phil Daniels
Pringle – Martin Jarvis
McCorquodale – Tony Rohr
Tessa – Liza Sadovy
Policeman – Ben Crowe
Produced and directed by Peter Kavanagh
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11 July 2008

Joe Orton: The Orton Diaries
Diary selections read by John Sessions
Produced by Ned Chaillet
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 23 March 1994

Kenneth Williams on Joe Orton
With Kenneth Williams and Ned Sherrin
Produced by Ian Gardhouse
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, September 1980

Front Row: Joe Orton
Presented by Samira Ahmed
Produced by Ekene Akalawu
With Leonie Orton, Emma Parker, Sally Norman, Jenna Forbes, John Lahr, Sheila Hancock, Nikolai Foster
First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 11 August 2017

©2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P)2025 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd.