The A Clockwork Orange author was born in Manchester in 1917, the son of a pianist and a pub landlady, and has often expressed great pride his Mancunian roots. He even claimed to have introduced the word ‘Mancuniense’ to the Italian language.

The gender swapping pioneer has gone largely unrecognised in modern pop culture, but a new play, part of Manchester Fringe, looks to explore the conflicted diva along with three other significant LGBT figures