Joe Orton

John Kingsley Orton, known under the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author and diarist. His public career—from 1964 until his death in 1967—was short but highly influential. During this brief period he shocked, outraged, and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies. The adjective Ortonesque refers to work characterised by a similarly dark yet farcical cynicism.