ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Joe Orton

Joe Orton was a man who lived a long time ago and became famous for writing plays. He was born in 1933 in England and grew up with his family in a small town. Joe was really smart and loved to read and write, but he wasn't very interested in school.

When Joe was a young adult, he moved to London and started writing plays. His plays were really funny and made people laugh a lot. But they were also kind of naughty and talked about things that some people didn't want to hear about.

Joe wrote a play called "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" and it became very popular. People loved the way he wrote and the things he talked about. Soon, Joe was very famous and people all over the world wanted to see his plays.

But even though Joe was famous, he had some problems in his life. He was gay, which means he liked boys instead of girls, and back then this wasn't accepted by everyone. Joe also had a boyfriend named Kenneth, and they both liked to have fun and do crazy things.

Unfortunately, Joe and Kenneth got into some trouble with the law. They were arrested for stealing books from a library and were sent to jail for a few months. When they got out, they were determined to keep having fun and writing plays.

Joe wrote another play called "Loot" and it was even more popular than his first one. But just as things seemed to be going well, Joe's life was cut short. In 1967, Joe was killed by his boyfriend Kenneth, who then committed suicide.

Joe's death was very sad, but his plays live on and are still enjoyed today. He was a very talented writer who made people laugh and think about important things. Even though he had some struggles in his life, Joe was a brave person who stayed true to himself and his love for writing.