Review: Entertaining Mr Sloane at the Young Vic

⭐⭐⭐ (Three Stars)

Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr Sloane shocked audiences when it was first staged in 1964. Over sixty years later, director Nadia Fall’s revival (her first production as Artistic Director of the Young Vic) struggles to make the same impact, landing instead as a stylish but uneven time capsule of a bygone era.

Set in the 1960s, the play follows the enigmatic Mr Sloane (Jordan Stephens, of Rizzle Kicks fame, in his theatre debut) as he becomes a lodger in the household of Kath (Tamzin Outhwaite), a delusional and sexually forward landlady, who introduces him to her domineering brother Ed (Daniel Cerqueira). Both siblings are drawn to Sloane and embark on a tug-of-war for his attention and affection, while their irritable elderly father Kemp (Christopher Fairbank) grows increasingly suspicious of the mysterious young man. What once felt daringly risqué now feels somewhat dated, with some of the period’s more uncomfortable language intact.

The set design is impressive to behold. Designer Peter McKintosh conjures a 1960s living room on a circular, floral-carpeted stage, beneath suspended furniture and household objects, giving the sense of a home hemmed in by junk which is appropriate, given we are told the house was built on the outskirts of a rubbish dump. The in-the-round configuration ensures clear sightlines of the central stage, while the suspended detritus looms overhead, creating a claustrophobic atmosphere.

Outhwaite gives a strong performance as Kath, her comic timing sharp and her desperation palpable. Fairbank, as her cantankerous father, provides some of the evening’s best exchanges, and the chemistry between Outhwaite and Fairbank feels authentic in their exasperation with each other. As Mr Sloane, Stephens, though charismatic, remains somewhat amiable even when the character’s darker, more sinister traits come to the surface and it would have been welcomed to see more malevolence in his performance. Still, he has many moments of charm and humour, particularly in his scenes with Cerqueira.

Fall introduces some modern theatrical elements, such as pounding dance music and strobe lights at the opening of Act Two, and off-stage stylised slow-motion sequences accompanied by Richard Howell’s colourful lighting throughout the piece. While these choices add visual interest, they don’t always register from all angles in the in-the-round setting, and feel like more of an aesthetic choice than anything more meaningful.

Ultimately, this production of Entertaining Mr Sloane is visually impressive and occasionally funny, but what once scandalised now feels outdated, leaving this revival as an intriguing, stylishly mounted period piece.

Entertaining Mr Sloane runs at the Young Vic until 8th November 2025.

Photos by Ellie Kurttz