Edna Welthorpe (Mrs): Joe Orton's Alter Ego

On 15 April 1967, Joe Orton received a letter from his producer Oscar Lewenstein enclosing ‘a copy of a letter written to him by some irate man (or woman) who’d been to see Loot’. Orton recorded in his diary: ‘The letter said we should advertise the play as “immoral.” Intend to write an Edna Welthorpe letter to them expressing my complete agreement with their disgust.’ This rather surprising response to the condemnation of his play illustrates Orton’s impish sense of fun and the relish he took in igniting outrage and offence.