This post is really about three favourite things.

1. Joe Orton plays. Yes, his life was tragically short and there’s no question in my mind that a light went out in the world when he died. However, I first read Joe Orton when I was young enough to think I was destined for a future in the theatre. I have an almost-shocking number of plays, speeches and movement books. My reading of Stanislavsky assisted me in diagnosing flat feet in a pal, but sadly, I am neither doctor nor actress.

It was during the course of reading ‘Funeral Games’ and the scene with McCorquodale and Tessa that I knew in my soul the vital power of words. That line shook something loose inside me and I found myself relaxing my wrist as the tears rolled down my face.

TESSA picks up her handbag, goes to the door
TESSA: Nurse will be over in an hour to give you a colonic irrigation. Hum to yourself if you’re sad.

I cannot underline this enough. I read all the time and I have never reacted that strongly to something I’ve read. I’ve welled up. I’ve cried. I’ve found it hard to speak for a while.

Only once have I completely fallen apart: Joe Orton.

2. Chair architecture. I like a good chair.

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In my series, Fiona has all kinds of chairs in her studio so that her models can feel comfortable. Some chairs just have a look of the time they’re from. They’re so iconic that all kinds of memories, either real or synthesised by flashbacks in mainstream television, come flooding to the fore.

And then, bringing 1 and 2 together.

3. Joe Orton posed as Christine Keeler by Lewis Morley.

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This image makes me so freaking happy.