Entertaining Mr Sloane (2011)

Poster by Stevie Hughes

by Joe Orton

Directed & Designed by Stevie Hughes

Performances: 1 - 5 February 2011, Bell Theatre

Introduction

Terence Rattigan (no friend of the ‘new wave’ theatre of the 50s and 60s) called Entertaining Mr Sloane "the best first play" he had seen "in thirty odd years" and to my mind, it’s Orton’s funniest: his targets in it are "ordinary, decent people" rather than the trusted institutions of society (which are not so trusted nowadays) and instead of the verbal machine-gun fire you get in Loot and What the Butler Saw, Orton slowly fattens and ripens his prey before surgically picking them off, like a sniper, piece by piece, as the play reaches its hilarious climax.

Plot summary

Middle-aged Kath has amorous designs on her new, young lodger but Ed, her domineering brother, will have none of it until he too succumbs to the charms of the mysterious Mr Sloane. As they compete for the boy’s affections, their lust soon rips open old family wounds as Sloane blithely plays off brother against sister. That is, until their ageing father (the "Dadda") recognises Sloane as the still-at-large perpetrator of a past, violent crime. Threatened with exposure, Sloane takes drastic measures that crank up the absurdity to hysterical levels.

Cast

• Kath - Lorraine Spenceley
• Sloane - Ted Riley
• Dadda (Kemp) - Pat Brown
• Ed - Tim Witcomb

Crew

• Stage Manager - Kay George
• ASMs - Clodagh Reynolds, Alice Harvey Lowe
• Light & Sound Op - Rebecca Williams
• BSL Interpreter - Paul Michaels

Design

• Director's Assistant - Rebecca Williams
• Sound - Stevie Hughes
• Lighting - Mark Davies
• Software Consultant - Gavin Parker
• Props - Kay George, Clodagh Reynolds, Alan Buckman, Stevie Hughes
• Set - Stevie Hughes, Graham Clements
• Construction - Graham Clements, Mark Ireson, Erik Smith, Kay George, Joanna Hopkins, Clodagh Reynolds, Alice Harvey Lowe
• Painting - Hazel Hindle, Michael Wilson
• Wardrobe - Lisa Thomas
• Publicity - Stevie Hughes
• Photography - Mark Davies
• Theatre Rep - Lisa Thomas

Gallery

Reminiscences and Anecdotes

Members are encouraged to write about their experiences of working on or seeing this production. Please leave your name. Anonymous entries may be deleted.

See Also

• Entertaining Mr Sloane (1974)

References

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External Links

• This play on the wikipedia (SPOILER)