‘Yours faithfully, Edna Welthorpe (Mrs)’: Joe Orton’s Edna Welthorpe Letters Revisited
Skwigly
To mark 50 years since the death of Joe Orton, BAFTA-nominated filmmaker Chris Shepherd is collaborating with University of Leicester academic, Dr Emma Parker, on an Arts Council England funded project inspired by prank letters of complaint that Orton penned using the pseudonym Mrs Edna Welthorpe.
Joe Orton (1933-1967) was a leading postwar playwright. His black comedies Entertaining Mr Sloane (1964), Loot (1966) and What the Butler Saw (1969) made him central to the Swinging Sixties. He appeared on the Eamonn Andrews Show, was photographed with model Twiggy and invited to write a screenplay for The Beatles.
As well as writing plays that helped shaped the new counterculture, Orton wrote prank letters of complaint satirizing snobbery and conservatism under the pen name Mrs Edna Welthorpe.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Orton’s death on 9 August, Chris Shepherd and Emma Parker have created the Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthrope (Mrs) project which includes a new animation by Chris Shepherd, a creative writing competition, and events at Latitude Festival and The Little Theatre in Leicester.
Chris Shepherd has created a new animated short featuring two of Orton’s original Edna Welthorpe Letters of complaint and their responses that is stylistically inspired by Orton & Halliwell’s defaced book covers. The film is voiced by Alison Steadman and Robin Sebastian, and features the animation talents of Chris Shepherd, Jocie Juritz, Hannah McNally & Martha Halliday, and Tom Fisher, and is produced by Abigail Addison.
It’s such an honour to be celebrating the life of Joe Orton – one of the greatest British playwrights and my comedy hero. I read his plays as a teenager his naughtiness got me giggling and I’ve been laughing ever since.
-Chris Shepherd
On 9 August there will be a special event at The Little Theatre, Leicester, where Orton launched his acting career. Acclaimed actor Frances Barber will read Orton’s hilarious Edna Welthorpe letters alongside new Edna letters commissioned from top comedy writers such as Jesse Armstrong (Peep Show, The Thick of It), Arthur Mathews (Father Ted) and Caroline Moran (Raised by Wolves). The readings will be followed by a screening of Chris Shepherd’s animation. Orton’s sister, Leonie Orton Barnett, will share memories of her brother’s comic escapades, and comedian Graham Fellows (John Shuttleworth) will join Emmy Award-winning writer David Quantick (The Fast Show, Brass Eye, Veep) to discuss Orton’s impact on contemporary comedy.
Chris Shepherd and Emma Parker will also be joined at Latitude Festival on 16 July by Leonie Orton Barnett, and comedians Robin Ince (The Infinite Monkey Cage) and John-Luke Roberts (Spats, The Alternative Comedy Memorial Society) to discuss Joe Orton and Edna Welthorpe. The animation and original letters will also be shared with the audience.
Moreover, Parker and Shepherd have launched a creative writing competition that invites students (16+) to embody Orton’s mischievous spirit and write a new Edna Welthorpe letter. The competition offers students an opportunity to consider how to channel anger into humour and use satire as an alternative to hate speech. The winning letter will be read at the event on 9 August.
The 50th anniversary of Orton’s death offers the perfect moment to celebrate his comic genius. We want to inspire young people to embrace Orton’s anarchic spirit and to recognise his impact on contemporary culture.’
-Emma Parker, Leading Joe Orton expert
Learn more about the work of Chris Shepherd in episode 15 of the Skwigly Animation Podcast (Stream below or direct download):