Entertaining Mr Sloane

Entertaining Mr Sloane description

Entertaining Mr Sloane is in town, with Daniel Cerqueira and Tamzin Outhwaite.

Nadia Fall kicks off her inaugural season as Young Vic Artistic Director with Joe Orton’s 1964 cult classic, a comic thriller overflowing with seduction and packed full of knife-sharp wit. You'll meet lonely Kath, who lets a room in her house to the mysterious Mr Sloane. Her brother Ed disapproves, worried about what other people will think. But before long, he has also fallen under the stranger's spell. Their old dad remains suspicious – he is sure he has seen Sloane before – and what starts as a handy living arrangement soon spirals into something a lot more dangerous, a game spiced with desire and deceit.

Tamzin Outhwaite (Abigail’s Party, The Wives) plays Kath and Daniel Cerqueira (A Gentleman in Moscow) plays Mr Sloane. Joe Orton (Ruffian, Loot, Funeral Games, What The Butler Saw), the English playwright and author, was bludgeoned to death by his partner in 1967. During his brief professional life, he shocked, outraged, and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies, which are still used today to describe his particular brand of cynical farce: Ortonesque.

Entertaining Mr Sloane premiered at the New Arts Theatre in Westminster during spring 1964, produced by Michael Codron. It met with everything from rave reviews to howls of shock and horror. The Times newspaper said it made 'the blood boil more than any other British play in the last 10 years' but playwright Terence Rattigan's support cut through the outrage. The play transferred to Wyndham's Theatre, then to the Queen's Theatre, and ultimately won awards: a tied first place for Sloane in the Variety Critics' Poll for Best New Play and second place for Most Promising Playwright for Orton. Since then, it has been produced worldwide, including in the USA, Spain, Israel, and Australia, and has been adapted into a TV play and a movie.

The Set and Costume Designer is Peter McKintosh, with Lighting Design by Richard Howell and Sound Design by Tingying Dong. The Movement Director is James Cousins, and the Fight and Intimacy Director is Haruka Kuroda. Wigs, Hair and Make-Up Design come from Carole Hancock, the Costume Supervisor is Yvonne Milnes, and Jamie Owens is Prop Supervisor. The Casting Director is Amy Ball CDG.

Buy Entertaining Mr Sloane tickets to experience a modern classic that never grows old, as delightfully shocking and entertaining as ever.

Playing at Young Vic

66 The Cut, London, SE1 8LZ GB (venue info)

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