Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Norton – ★★★
Joe Orton's psychosexual masterpiece promises delicious darkness but delivers uneven thrills throughout.
There is a moment in the second act of Entertaining Mr Sloane when Jordan Stephens explodes into dance under Richard Howell's strobing pink, purple and blue lights, dressed in leather gear that screams Village People. It is pure hedonistic abandon and exactly the kind of dangerous energy Joe Orton's 1964 scandal should pulse with. Yet somehow, even this moment of apparent liberation feels contained, sanitised for modern consumption.
Sixty years after its debut, Joe Orton's psychosexual powder keg retains its power to unsettle but Nadia Fall's Young Vic revival never quite ignites. What should be a deliciously dark exploration of desire, manipulation and moral corruption instead feels curiously muted.
The story centres on Sloane (Jordan Stephens), a smooth-skinned orphan who becomes lodger to the dysfunctional household of Kath (Tamzin Outhwaite) and her brother Ed (Daniel Cerqueira), under the watchful eye of their belligerent father Kemp (Christopher Fairbank). What begins as domestic comedy quickly spirals into a twisted triangle of manipulation, desire and violence as both siblings compete for Sloane's affections through increasingly desperate means.
Orton's exploration of repressed sexuality, class dynamics and moral corruption remains as relevant as ever. The play dissects the predatory nature of desire, the dysfunction of family structures and the commodification of youth and beauty. There is a particularly sharp focus on how abuse becomes cyclical: Kath's desperate attempt to recreate a maternal relationship following the loss of her son creates a horrifying mother-baby dynamic that serves as the play's most disturbing element.
Tamzin Outhwaite delivers the production's standout performance as Kath. Her portrayal captures both the character's pathetic desperation and her manipulative cunning with remarkable nuance. Outhwaite finds the perfect balance between comedy and menace, making Kath simultaneously pitiable and terrifying. Her ditzy exterior masks considerable psychological power and Outhwaite never lets us forget it.
By contrast, Jordan Stephens, making his stage debut, proves the production's weakest link. Whilst he captures Sloane's surface charm, his performance feels more like someone playing a character rather than inhabiting one. His portrayal leans heavily into naivety when the role demands more menace and manipulation. The character's transformation (particularly his seemingly unsubstantiated choice to remain with Ed) lacks the psychological groundwork necessary to make it believable. Most problematically, Sloane himself feels like two different characters across the acts. The smooth operator of the opening scenes becomes oddly passive and distant later, without sufficient justification for this transformation. The play’s shocking climax feels anticlimactic and lacks the build-up necessary for such a pivotal moment.
Daniel Cerqueira brings layers of repressed desire and protective authority to Ed, though the homoerotic undertones feel somewhat muted in this production. Christopher Fairbank's Kemp provides necessary gruffness and intolerance, establishing the tension from the outset.
Where the performances falter, the production's visual elements offer some redemption. Peter McKintosh's cluttered domestic setting perfectly mirrors the tangled family dynamics, while Howell's lighting design adds sophisticated layers of meaning. His recurring use of green to illuminate tension between characters not currently in focus demonstrates genuine visual storytelling. However, these moments of technical brilliance are sparse and highlight how much stronger the production could have been throughout
The production suffers from tonal inconsistency that undermines Orton's carefully calibrated balance of comedy and horror. The first half establishes a deliciously dark atmosphere with genuine sexual tension, but the second half loses coherence and energy. The promised delicious darkness arrives in tantalising glimpses rather than sustained waves. The quieter, more intimate moments (particularly the psychosexual dynamics between Kath and Sloane) work best but there is a struggle with the broader arc of manipulation and violence that drives the narrative forward.
There are strong individual elements and a commanding central performance from Outhwaite which allows this play to serve as an adequate introduction to the world of Joe Orton. For those seeking the full provocative power of one of British theatre's most scandalous works – the play's transgressive energy remains frustratingly elusive. There are glimpses of what could have been a truly exceptional production, but they never quite cohere into the complete experience Orton demands.
★★★
By Koehun Aziz-Kamara
Entertaining Mr Sloane is showing at the Young Vic Theatre until 8 November.
