Joe Orton‘s ‘Entertaining mr Sloane‘ Revived at Young Vic – A Dark Comedy Still Resonates
London – Nadia Fall’s debut as artistic director of the Young Vic launches with a stark and unsettling revival of Joe Orton’s 1964 black comedy, Entertaining Mr Sloane, currently playing through November 8th. The production, starring Daniel Cerqueira and Tamzin Outhwaite, doesn’t shy away from the play’s murky exploration of desire, desperation, and the corrosive effects of a dysfunctional family, proving Orton’s work remains powerfully relevant six decades later.
Orton’s play, notorious for its subversive wit and frank depiction of sexual ambiguity, continues to challenge audiences with its unflinching portrayal of moral decay. Fall’s production arrives at a moment of renewed cultural conversation around societal constraints and the performance of identity,amplifying the play’s enduring power to disturb and provoke. The revival offers a fresh lens through wich to examine the play’s themes of exploitation and the search for belonging, impacting both theatregoers and critics alike.
The production centers on the arrival of the enigmatic Mr. Sloane (Stephens), a young man who quickly becomes the object of affection for both Kath (Tamzin Outhwaite), a woman simultaneously portrayed as naive and calculating, and her brother Ed (Daniel Cerqueira), a character defined by his aggressive posturing. Cerqueira delivers a performance brimming with “bite and bluster,” as the review notes, while Outhwaite masterfully embodies Kath’s complex duality.Christopher Fairbank completes the unsettling family dynamic as the querulous Dadda.
Fall’s direction emphasizes the play’s claustrophobic atmosphere and the characters’ shared misery. The staging,described as featuring Stephens standing in “dank green light,” underscores Sloane’s sense of alienation and the precariousness of his position. While the play’s structure occasionally feels repetitive,the production successfully highlights Orton’s ability to expose the hypocrisy and desperation lurking beneath the surface of seemingly ordinary lives.
A related work, Nadia Fall’s debut film Brides, explores similar themes of societal pressure and female agency, further demonstrating a continuing artistic interest in challenging conventional narratives. Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Young Vic is a compelling reminder that even after sixty years, Orton’s unsettling vision of human behavior continues to resonate.
