Entertaining Mr. Sloane
by Joe Orton
Joe Orton - Entertaining Mr. Sloane
BBC Radio 3: Drama on 3
Broadcast: Sunday 15th April 2007 @ 8:00 p.m.
Radio 3 lifts her skirts up above her ankles a little for a flash of naughtiness when Joe Orton's debut play gets , astonishingly, its first
radio adaptation. Director John Tydeman, who played a major role in Orton's early career, has stuck magnificently to the dark, twisted
humour of the original. If the shock tactics that were so controversial back in 1964 have been tamed by time, the sheer nastiness of the
power play between the characters is still potent.
Middle-aged Kath takes in Mr. Sloane as a lodger, partly to mother him, partly to seduce him, only to be rivalled by her brother Ed for
his attentions. The power wielded at the start is all Sloane's but, by the end, the balance has shifted to the siblings. Murder, blackmail,
bisexual philanderings and some very deep-seated misogyny are all offset by the bondage-black humour to make this the most guilty
pleasure of the week.
Dudley Sutton, who plays Kath's father in this dramatisation, played Mr. Sloane in the original 1964 theatre production. This play is
introduced by John Tydeman in conversation with Dudley Sutton.
Adapted by John Tydeman, Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" was written in 1963 and dedicated to Kenneth Halliwell. The play was
first presented at the New Arts Theatre, London, on the 6th May 1964 and was a smash West End success.
With Daniel Evans [Mr. Sloane], Clive Francis [Ed], Geraldine James [Kath], and Dudley Sutton [Kemp, Kath's Father].
Directed by John Tydeman.
Produced by Nicolas Soames.
120 min.
Jim
