Or The Warts That Dared To Speak Their Name
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Colm Clifford played one of the camp characters in Thorpe’s upper class milieu
Based on the three witches from Shakespeare’s Macbeth Malcolm Watson played one of the Sprits of Gay Defiance which later became Norns
Colm played Andrew Newton the man who bungled the killing of Norman Scott
The Thorpe trial was a scandal for journalists to feast on leading to an orgy of homophobia in the Press. Ian Townson played a newspaper editor
Bill Thornycroft played Patrick Back QC
Jeremy Thorpe marvellously played by Stephen Gee
Jeremy Thorpe (Stephen Gee) reassuring Norman Scott (Michael O’Dwyer) who has never been screwed before that everything will be just fine.
The mockery of a trial scene.
Jeremy Thorpe, leader of the Liberal Party and Member of Parliament for North Devon, lost both of those positions during the run up to his trial at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) on the charge of conspiracy to murder Norman Scott with whom he had a sexual relationship. Married to Marion Thorpe at that time (1979) and with children he at first denied the relationship. The media coverage of the trial, besides hitting a new low in antigay prurience, uncovered a rogues gallery of people around Thorpe who were willing to cover up his indiscretions with bribery, threats and ultimately, through David Holmes who organised the plot, the murder of Norman Scott to silence him forever. Wrongly accused of trying to blackmail Thorpe Scott's main grievances revolved around the recovery of his stamped insurance card from Thorpe without which he could not seek employment and his abandonment by his former lover who had 'infected' him with homosexuality. Scott had also married with children in tow who he was eventually denied access to.
A secluded spot on on a rain soaked Dartmoor was the place Andrew Newton chose to kill Scott. A failed airline pilot he was characterised as a fantasist and habitual liar who sought fame and fortune through selling his story to the press. On the deserted moor he shot and killed Scott's dog Rinka before pointing the gun at him which jammed sparing his life. After this bungled attempt Newton panicked and sped off in his car. Scott was left shattered by the ordeal and pathetically gave the kiss of life in an attempt to restore his beloved Great Dane.
Statement from the South London Gay Liberation Front handed out at the Old Bailey during the trial of Jeremy Thorpe
Brixton Gays outside the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey) as Thorpe arrives for his trial on the charge of conspiracy to murder
Based on this historical event that blazed a trail in media queer-bashing and closely incorporating revelations as they unfolded in the press and television coverage the play attempted an exploration of the complexities of political power and class privilege surrounding the trial and the part played by the media in putting homosexuality in the dock of public execration. Borrowing the three witches from Shakespeare's Macbeth they were transformed into the spirits of gay anger and in later performances into Norns, the mythical supernatural creatures in the Ring Cycle opera by Wagner. Wagner was very much worshiped at the time by some of the Brixton gay community. This created a mock 'epic' quality to the play following on from exaggerated claims that the Thorpe trial was a “tragedy of really Shakespearean proportions” by David Steel the successor to Thorpe as Liberal Party Leader.