Joe & I

Synopsis

It's 1964 and when Terry writes to congratulate Joe on the success of his first play, he isn't prepared for Joe to turn up at his Piccadilly apartment, or for the events which follow - sex, love, grief and murder, with a few good laughs on the way. Terry is 20 years older than Joe and while his glittering career is in decline, Joe's is most definitely on the up. Haunted by the playwright Oscar, Terry has become increasingly repressed and isolated, while promiscuous Joe happily sticks two fingers up to the theatrical establishment. While Terry plays with Joe, do Oscar and Joe have their own agenda? Terry, Joe and Oscar are based on the playwrights Terence Rattigan, Joe Orton and Oscar Wilde and the play is set in Rattigans's Albany apartment around the time that Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane opened. Laurie Slade has drawn inspiration from the playwrights' work, as well as biographical details of their lives to create a seductive and witty play that deals with the universal themes of love and loss.

Our Review:

16 November 2005

An engaging ménage à trois between playwrights (from three different generations) is played out in the living room of the central character, Terrence Rattigan (played by Peter Bowles in a rare Off West End appearance) in Joe & I at the King’s Head. The venue lends itself to the intimate and almost confessional mood of Laurie Slade’s pseuo-biographical comedy drama, as ‘Terry’ tells the audience – and the spirit of Bryan Murray’s Oscar Wilde – the story of his relationship with the up-and-coming Joe Orton (Simon Hepworth).

In 1964, Terry writes to congratulate Joe on the success of his first play, little realising the sparky, confident dramatist will turn up practically naked on his doorstep with a bunch of flowers.

It’s difficult to imagine two men less suited to each other than Terry and Joe, as Terry finds Joe’s brazenness and crudeness embarrassing and irritating at times, wh...

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Latest User Review

86.134.81.1) - 6 December 2005:

The idea of fictional meetings has been done before, but where this wins is by using the device to contrast attitudes in different times and by different generations. It's a bit voyeuristic on the tiny Kings Head stage and Peter Bowles isn't always comfortable in his role, but it's still an interesting play well staged and well worth a trip to Islington....

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