Prick Up Your Ears - unedited review

Tragically, life mirrored art just days after press night and, following the suicide of his ex-partner, Little Britain star Matt Lucas has withdrawn from Simon Bent’s new play about anarchic playwright Joe Orton’s final years. He played Kenneth Halliwell, the disgruntled lover whose increasing jealousy and alienation led him to bludgeon Orton (a spry Chris New) to death in 1967 before taking a fatal overdose.

Bent puts Halliwell centre stage, marooned in their claustrophobic Islington flat with its oppressive, collage-covered walls as Orton goes in search of anonymous sex and celebrity high life. But the facts are already familiar from the biography and film of the same name, and it’s left to Gwen Taylor’s caring neighbour to add a perfect comic touch to this solid, sometimes playful but unenlightening drama.

Comedy, Panton Street, SW1Y 4DN 0844 871 7622 to 28 November