ABOUT THE PLAY

 

Matt Lucas plays Kenneth Halliwell alongside Chris New as playwright Joe Orton and Gwen Taylor as Mrs Corden, in Daniel Kramer’s production of PRICK UP YOURS EARS, a new play by Simon Bent inspired exclusively by the John Lahr biography and the diaries of Joe Orton. Matt Lucas is one of the most recognisable and best-loved actors in this country; he is joined by rising star Chris New (Nomination Evening Standard, Best Newcomer) and theatre and television favourite Gwen Taylor (Heartbeat, Barbara, Doc Martin).
 Due to unforeseen personal circumstances the role of Halliwell was taken over by Con O’Neill for the West End run.


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1962. Halliwell and Orton - RADA graduates, aspiring writers, and sometime lovers - plot their rightful place at the centre of London’s literary scene whilst engaged in a secret crusade to “improve” the local library books, and acting out their own versions of popular radio dramas... But Joe is about to become the most notorious comic playwright since Oscar Wilde, whilst Ken is reduced to sharing Joe’s success with their neighbour Mrs Corden over tea and battenburg. 

This darkly funny and moving play imagines the sensational story behind Joe and Ken’s domestic life, trading well-trodden insults and hilarious put-downs like any old married couple.

 

CAST & CREATIVE

 

Kenneth Halliwell - Matt Lucas (Con O’Neill)

Joe Orton - Chris New

Mrs Cordon - Gwen Taylor

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Author - Simon Bent

Director - Daniel Kramer

Designer - Peter Mackintosh

Lighting - Peter Mumford

Sound - Gareth Owen

 

 

QUOTES & REVIEWS

 

The Guardian – Michael Billington – 1 October 2009

 

“Chris New invests the cocky, clever, aspiration Orton with a quick, darting, impatient energy”

 

“A fine performance from Gwen Taylor”

 

Daily Express – Paul Callan – 1 October 2009

 

*****

“Gripping”

 

“Matt Lucas is an inspired piece of casting”

 

“Memorable”

 

“Lucas’s outstanding talent”

 

“You are sitting on the edge of your seat”

 

“Chris New is excellent”

 

“This will prove to be one of 2009’s great hits”

 

“A triumph for Matt Lucas”

 

Evening Standard – Henry Hitchings – 1 October 2009

 

“Matt Lucas delivers a performance this is complex and precisely gauged”

 

“Chris New is affable and dangerous”

 

“Gwen Taylor, on hand to provide comic relief, impresses with her smart timing”

 

“Lucas conveys raw power and fine detail – he is an actor capable of fierce intensity”

 

“Amusing and poignant”

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WhatsonStage – Michael Coveney – 1 October 2009

 

“These are fine, original performances, beautifully complemented by Gwen Taylor”

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London Lite – Charlotte Melville – 1 October 2009

 

“At times creasingly funny”

 

“Hilarious fast-paced dialogue of sexual innuendo that has the audience cackling”

 

“Gwen Taylor – Fabulous”
 

Sunday Telegraph – Tim Walker – 4 October 2009

 

“Chris New – A great performance”

 

Sunday Times - Maxie Szalwinska – 4 October 2009

 

“Chris New is brilliant”

 

“He combines charm and ruthlessness”

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Sunday Express – Mark Shenton – 4 October 2009

 

****

“Two superb performances by Chris New and Matt Lucas”

 

“It resonates with fresh laughter”

 

 

The Times – Sam Marlowe – 2 November 2009

 

“Con O’Neill delivers”

 

“He is funny, intelligent, painfully self-aware and frighteningly fragile”

 

“Moving and maddening”

 

“The compassionate, deliciously funny Gwen Taylor”

 

“A considered, detailed, poignant portrayal”

 

 

Evening Standard - Fiona Mountford – 2 November 2009

 

****

 

“Triumph as Con O’Neill moves in”

 

“Excellent”