| 1933 |
January
1st: John Kingsley Orton born in Leicester |
| 1944 |
Orton
fails Eleven Plus exams |
| 1945-7 |
Attends
Clark’s College, Leicester |
| 1949 |
Orton
begins his first diary |
| 1950 |
April:
Starts taking elocution lessons with ‘Madame
Rothery’ |
| |
November:
Applies to Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) |
| 1951 |
May:
Starts at RADA, meets Kenneth Halliwell |
| |
June:
Orton moves in with Halliwell at 161 West End Lane,
London NW6 |
| |
June:
Orton stops writing his first diary |
| 1953 |
April:
Orton and Halliwell graduate from RADA |
| |
April
– July: Orton gets job as Assistant Stage Manager
at Ipswich Repertory |
| |
Orton
and Halliwell begin collaborating as writers.
Write The Silver Bucket (manuscript lost) |
| 1954-6 |
Orton
and Halliwell collaborate on a number of novels; Lord
Cucumber, The Mechanical Womb, The Last Days of Sodom
and The Boy Hairdresser. All are rejected by
publishers. |
| 1957 |
June:
Orton writes to publisher Charles Monteith saying
that he and Halliwell have begun writing separately.
Orton writes novel Between Us Girls |
| |
Orton
begins writing as ‘Edna Welthorpe’ and
other pseudonyms, which continue throughout his career |
| 1959 |
Orton
and Halliwell move to flat in Noel Road, Islington,
London |
| |
Orton
writes play, Fred and Madge |
| |
Halliwell
writes novel, Priapus in the Shrubbery |
| |
Orton
and Halliwell start stealing books from Islington
library and altering book jackets |
| |
|
