ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE
A handsome, manipulative psychopath; a middle-aged, sex-starved landlady; her powerful but easily-swayed gay brother; and their suspicious but senile father result in relationships built on greed, longing and a desperate desire to fill a lonely void. This is black comedy at its finest, and will inevitably keep its audience torn between rage, bewilderment and laughter as the power of manipulation, charm and lust unfolds before their eyes.
Brynn Loosemore, Frank McNamara and Pete Nettell have an almost effortless chemistry as they fight, flirt, fist and flare up from beginning to tragic end. However, it is Alice Livingstone who truly steals the show as Kath – a woman so comically desperate to keep the charming Mr Sloane as a tenant in her home she’s willing to let the audience see much more than they bargained for.
A well-polished and detailed set design by Marissa Dale-Johnson perfectly captures Kath’s dreary suburban life, with cluttered furniture and dusty photo frames plastered everywhere making her sexual fascination with the cruel and clever Mr Sloane all the more heartbreaking. What we’re left with is an audience reeling over just how effectively the truth can be bended, reality can be distorted and power can be turned upside-down through the force of desire. In the words of Kath’s naive brother Ed: “Prepare to raise your eyebrows.”
Until Jul 14, New Theatre, 542 King St, Newtown, $10-30, 1300 13 11 88, newtheatre.org,au
