An important note about Entertaining Mr Sloane: it was first staged back in 1964 and gathered quite a reputation for itself, quickly building a cult following. It’s easy to see why – it portrayed a story involving homosexuality at a time that it was still criminalised; and the various subject matter touched upon throughout the play (rape, murder, violence) would all have been rather more taboo on stage than they are in 2025. So how does this revival at London’s Young Vic Theatre hold up today?
Truth be told it does feel a little tame. At the centre of the story is the titular Mr Sloane, played by Jordan Stephens (of Rizzle Kicks fame) making his professional stage debut. He takes advantage of both the lonely Kate (Tamzin Outhwaite) who has a spare room in her house and is looking for a new lodger, and also Kate’s businessman brother Ed (Daniel Cerqueira). We’re sure the idea of Sloane getting the much older Kate pregnant, while simultaneously designing to run away and start a relationship with her brother, would have been rather scandalous in the 1960s, but it doesn’t seem so provocative today.
So it has lost some of its shock value – Jordan Stephens is better at bringing out the comedy in the role rather than the sinister side, which probably doesn’t help proceedings – but we should also note that Entertaining Mr Sloane remains an amusing show nonetheless. It’s a dark comedy, and many of the jokes still stand up – there are a handful of laugh-out-loud funny one-liners over the course of the evening. Tamzin Outhwaite’s character is a little one-dimensional, but she’s good at bringing the humour out.
We would also note that we found the show a little imbalanced: originally written as a three act play, it’s been condensed into two, which means that the second act now feels as though it’s overstaying its welcome (we did find ourselves checking our watches a couple of times) – it does seem to drag somewhat in comparison to the brief and punchy first act. It’s a bit of a shame really, as there are some promising moments here: a little tightening up of act two, and a bit more work to unearth Mr Sloane’s more sinister undertones, could have turned an enjoyable show into an excellent one.
GAY TIMES gives Entertaining Mr Sloane – 3/5
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