The Melbourne Theatre Company's production of Entertaining Mr. Sloane, written by British playwright Joe Orton, is their first of the new season, and I'm afraid it is a disappointing beginning.
Perhaps my expectations were too high? I can well remember my Joe Orton
phase, somewhere in the early nineties, when all the really cool
theatre kids aspired to a certain tawdry notoriety and a lack of social
mores, as was epitomised by the playwright in 1960s London. (Yes, I
said the 'cool kids' and I meant it.) But I do believe Orton's work still stands up to my expectations, only with this production it doesn't.
Directed by Simon Phillips, Entertaining Mr. Sloane
is about an emotionally stunted family who take in a lodger, found at
the library, who then utilises his physical beauty to manipulate the
sexually greedy siblings. The family though prove to be a match for the
young man in terms of manipulation, and the resulting situation is not
to everybody's liking.
Phillips and performers Ben Geurens as Mr. Sloane, Bob Hornery as Kemp, Amanda Muggleton as Kath and Richard Piper as Ed,
achieve quite a powerful atmosphere of claustrophobic togetherness with
this production. The family aspires to fashionable gentility but
achieves an ugly neediness and distasteful inter-dependence. Set and
costume designer Shaun Gurton ably increases this atmosphere
with his dusty, lilac toned set, utilising a very 'shabby chic'
aesthetic, littered with knick-knacks. The family's sense of isolation
is accentuated by locating their home in a dump. In contrast, I found
the lighting design distracting as it was, seemingly, without a
consistent logic.
Much of Orton's comedy, I believe, is
derived from the multi-layered quality of his script and his use of
pauses. Unfortunately in this production the layers are flattened out
and the pauses are rushed through. The decision to portray the
characters with a kind of middle of the road extremism also doesn't
work for me. This is of course a director's decision, and a disputable
point. Without wanting to give away the end, the effectiveness of the
play's conclusion is dependent on the strength and charisma of the
character Sloane. In this production the lack of power generated by Sloane undermines the conclusion, as does the ineffective fight choreography.
Amanda Muggleton portrays Kath with a sordid neediness that is quite delicious and Richard Piper's Ed showed more of the character extremism I enjoy so much with Orton plays.
Entertaining Mr. Sloane
is certainly a product of it's era and it's geography, but in saying
that I don't intend to imply that it is dated. The energy, insight and
outrage inherent in the writing is still accessible today. This MTC
production, although generally entertaining, does not access the play's
strengths adequately enough, and the result is a jaded one.
Melbourne Theatre Company presents
Entertaining Mr Sloane
By Joe Orton
Venue: the Arts Centre Fairfax Studio
Previews: from 22 December 2006
Dates: 28 December 2006 - 10 February 2007
Times:
Mon & Tue 6.30pm (no perfs 25 & 26 Dec), Wed 1pm & 8pm, Thu
& Fri 8pm, Sat 4pm & 8.30pm (23 Dec 2pm & 8pm)
Tickets: $16 - $72.10
Bookings: Ticketmaster 1300 136 166 or www.mtc.com.au
