About the Play:

Nasty Little Secrets is full-length black comedy by Lanie Robertson. It's a black, sexy, tragicomedy about the life and untimely, violent death of famous British playwright Joe Orton, up-and-coming enfant terrible of the London theatre, at the hands of his mentor-turned-murderer Kenneth Halliwell.

Nasty Little Secrets is based on the real life story of a working-class actor who became a hugely successful playwright, media darling, and the toast of London social circles. Alas, he came to a bad end and became more famous – and respected – in death than in life. Joe Orton satirized the nasty secrets behind middle class propriety in such classics as What the Butler Saw and Loot. This is his story – the raw, talented John (later Joe) Orton won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and met Kenneth Halliwell, an actor and writer seven years his senior who saw in him the soul and talent of a comic poet. They settled down as lovers and artists living a bohemian existence until they were arrested for playfully defacing library books. Each got six months in a separate jail. Afterwards, their relationship deteriorated as Orton's star began to rise. Halliwell's resentment was so consuming that he killed Orton and himself. Nasty Little Secrets is a powerful, dramatic story told with humour and compassion, which will challenge, sadden and amuse right until the final, quirky twist, creating a play that could have been written by Joe Orton himself.

Nasty Little Secrets premiered in 1987 at the historic Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Its New York premiere was in 1988 off-Broadway at Primary Stages with a revival on the 10th anniversary of that original run. Its West Coast premiere was in 2000 at Theatre/Theater in Hollywood.

Cast: 4 male

What people say:

"I don't think you'll see a better play ... this season." — New York Post

"The play, which chronicles the events that preceded the murder of the celebrated British dramatist Joe Orton, is a corrosive study of blossoming genius and escalating rivalry." — Los Angeles Times

"It is sad. It is also wickedly funny. This is terrific theatre." — New York Post

About the Playwright:

Lanie Robertson is an American playwright, actor, and educator, best known for his brilliant one woman plays, including Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, the story of Bille Holliday. Many of his plays were produced in Philadelphia, where he also taught literature and play-writing at the Philadelphia College of Art during the 1970s. He has written over 30 plays for regional and Off-Broadway theater. His plays have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia, and in towns in Virginia, Alaska, and Maine. Internationally, his work has been produced in Canada, England, France, Australia, and Japan.