"All classes are criminal today. We live in an age of equality." -Funeral Games, Joe Orton

On August 9th, 1967, one of my favorite playwrights, the (in)famous Joe Orton was murdered by his lover Kenneth Halliwell. If you haven't read any of Orton's deliciously macabre oeuvre, especially his riveting diaries, I recommend Stephen Frears' excellent 1987 film, Prick Up Your Ears, (http://youtu.be/-sKJ_asMJhg) as a wonderful introduction. Alfred Molina's portrayal of Kenneth Halliwell steals the show.

Now...Joe Orton isn't everyone's cup of tea. He is definitely, as he described himself with relish, an "acquired taste." While the diaries sparkle with his tremendous wit, they also reveal Orton as selfish, misogynistic, cruel and very arrogant. He also writes with great gusto about paying for sex with boys as young as 13 in Tangiers. In many ways, his diaries, while fascinating, are deeply disturbing. http://amzn.com/0306807335

But I'm not here to justify his life. (Nor, after all, would Joe Orton want me to, or give a damn what anyone thought about him. If anything, he'd probably be irritated and depressed, if people weren't appalled by what he said and did. He needed to shock his audience.) What I respect about Joe, besides his hilariously wicked talent, was his determination to live life on his terms and damn the consequences. He was ferociously true to his art and to his talent. He was determined that people would take him and his gifts as they found him. And 45 years ago today, his lover, Kenneth Halliwell beat him to death with a hammer.

I know that some of you, visiting this blog are perhaps thinking x-rated thoughts of me (one can only hope, right?), but when it comes to hiring me to be your very own creativity coach, someone to help you get your mind right, you're all, "Oh, no, I'm fine. Fine and dandy! I don't need a coach." Alas.
Because that means...I failed. I haven't gotten across to you that EVERYBODY needs a coach. A coach is someone in your corner, someone to brainstorm with, someone to bounce ideas off of, a coach is that disinterested party who wants you to succeed, dammit! As I always tell my clients, I nag because I love. And I also nag because a successful life is truly a collaborative process. Especially in this crap economy.
The importance of collaboration was brought home to me the other night as I was reading Bert Lahr's "Prick Up Your Ears;" the biography of one of my favorite playwrights, Joe Orton. (Can't recommend it highly enough!) Overall it is an excellent book about about the all-too-short life fascinating man, but what I found truly gripping were the chapters detailing the creative process through which Orton created some of his masterpieces, such as "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" and "Loot." I wasn't surprised by the hundreds of rewrites Orton did...but the fact that at the beginning, Orton didn't even know how "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" would end. Someone else suggested the ending! "Loot" meanwhile was rewritten for months...there were many times, when it seemed the play would never get off the ground.
Meanwhile, you, out there, think you don't need a coach or a mentor, to life you out of your stagnant comfort zone...?