Hello Leicester Hollywood star Alec Baldwin pays tribute to Joe Orton for University event

Hollywood icon and 2017 Emmy Award nominee Alec Baldwin is playing a key role in a Leicester event celebrating the legacy of playwright Joe Orton.

Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) will take place at The Little Theatre on 9 August featuring the hilarious prank letters of complaint that Orton penned under the pseudonym Edna Welthorpe.  Dr Emma Parker from our School of Arts has been instrumental in linking with Alec Baldwin, star of The Hunt for Red October, Glengarry Glen Ross, Malice, The Edge, It’s Complicated, Blue Jasmine, Still Alice, and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation among many others, and getting him involved with the event.

Alec has recorded a special message for the Leicester audience and written a letter in the style of Orton’s Edna Welthorpe, which will feature in the evening’s programme, starting at 7pm. New Edna letters commissioned from top comedy writers such as Jesse Armstrong (Peep Show, The Thick of It), Arthur Mathews (Father Ted) and Caroline Moran (Raised by Wolves) will also feature.

Dr Parker said: “Alec Baldwin's passion for Orton is reflected across his career. He made his Broadway debut playing Dennis (alongside Zoe Wanamaker) in Joe Orton's Loot (1986) and later took the role of Ed in Entertaining Mr Sloane (2006)."

In his memoir Nevertheless, published this year, Alec Baldwin writes: “I've always had a special love for Joe Orton's writing.” Speaking of his role in Entertaining Mr Sloane, he adds: “I couldn't wait to get on stage and shake hands with Orton's brand of anarchic wit.”

• Tickets for ‘Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthorpe (Mrs)’ available from The Little Theatre from: http://www.thelittletheatre.net/
• Press release