Call for new loo to be named after murdered playwright

10 October 2007

Joe Orton

A CHEEKY suggestion for a new public toilet in Camden Passage to be called "Joe Orton's bog" has caused a stink in the famous antiques market.

Mike Weedon, of the Camden Passage Association, has launched a controversial campaign for a public loo to deter drunken revellers from relieving themselves in the street.

But what has really got people talking is his suggestion that any new bog be named after the late playwright who lived nearby in Noel Road and was infamous for his sexual activities in the area's public toilets during the 1960s.

Mr Weedon said: "I'm sure I'll get some furious reactions but I've been told by people who knew Joe Orton that he would have loved the idea. I think having a toilet with a blue plaque dedicated to him would suit his personality.

"Joe Orton did what he did because it was the only place he could do it in those days. I think having a bog named after him would show how attitudes have changed over the last 40 years.

"We wouldn't be celebrating cottaging - we would be celebrating how much more liberal we are these days."

Mr Weedon even thinks there could be a whole mini-festival to celebrate Mr Orton, who was beaten to death by his lover Kenneth Halliwell, at the Islington home they shared.

"We could get Gary Oldman, who played Joe in the film, to come and unveil the plaque. The Screen on the Green could do a Joe Orton season and the King's Head could do a play on him," said Mr Weedon.

"We don't have that many famous people from Islington. We should be celebrating one of our own."

However, some people are opposed to the plans.

Bob Borzello, who has lived and worked in Camden Passage since 1967, said: "This sounds like a very bad joke to me. Frankly, I think it would be an insult to the man's memory.

"How many toilets are named after people? I've never seen a Winston Churchill's Release Station.

"I certainly wouldn't want to be remembered by a toilet. I don't think anyone would."

Mr Borzello also said having a toilet in Camden Passage might cause problems in itself.

"There's so much drunkenness on Upper Street on a Friday and Saturday night it's like a young person's skid row," he said. "I don't fancy having them come down to the Passage for a pee."

Deputy Islington Council leader, Councillor Terry Stacy, said: "There's no doubt Islington needs more public conveniences and the council will look at any suggestions for locations from traders and residents.

"Joe Orton already has a blue plaque on the house where he used to live. I would only support a blue plaque on a toilet if something worth commemorating happened there, and I doubt there is a toilet in the country that can lay claim to that.