“Not for such a long time have I disliked a play as much as I disliked Joe Orton’s” was the Daily Telegraph’s response to Entertaining Mr Sloane when it first opened at London’s New Arts Theatre in 1964.

But the response to Orton’s first play was not all critical, with fellow playwright Terence Rattigan even putting up £3,000 to help it move into the West End.

According to director Michael Padley, whose version of the classic is opening the Brighton Little Theatre’s 2008/9 season, a lot of the problems boiled down to the fact Orton’s mind was racing far ahead of his contemporaries.

“I think nowadays we are a bit more streetwise to these sorts of things,” he says, talking about the sexual subject matter and Oedipal subtext within the play.

“They don’t shock us as much as they possibly did in 1964.”

The titular character (played by Richard Dawes) arrives at the home of middle-aged Kath (Judy Cooper) looking for lodgings.

Kath is only too happy to oblige the handsome young man and begins an affair with him. When her brother Ed (Allan Cardew) appears on the scene though he, too, sets his sights on the new lodger. It is all bad news though for Dadda (Tom Littleton) who believes he once witnessed Sloane get away with murder.

“They are all manipulative characters, and they are all manipulating each other to get what they want,” says Padley.

“They are all selfish except Dadda, who is an innocent party while the others are as corrupt as hell.”

Although the play was written in 1964, Padley doesn’t feel it has dated that much.

“He talks about things we are still discussing today,” he says. “Themes such as racism and sexual deviation. He was a great thinking man and an observer of the seedier side of life.

“Orton is so playful and his characters are so colourful, but he makes strong social statements, which is why the play remains alive and kicking.

“It is a very interesting play to direct. It goes from one extreme to the other. You’re aching with laughter, then thrown back in your seat with the possibility of violence or murder. There is an underlying dark theme to all of Orton’s plays, but particularly in Sloane. It is brilliant writing. The audience is never allowed to lose interest.”

It is not the first time Padley has tackled the play, having directed a version at the Pavilion Theatre about ten years ago for the HIV and AIDS charity Brighton Cares, featuring drag queen Dave Lynn as Kath.

He hasn’t done anything quite so drastic for this production, although he has updated the character of Sloane slightly to make him more sexually aware for a 21st century audience.

“Possibly Orton had to restrain himself because of the Lord Chamberlain,” he says, referring to the fact the Lord Chamberlain still censored stage plays in the UK up until 1968.

“Orton was almost a kind of Sloane himself. He was certainly promiscuous and lived a double life that was part of his downfall [Orton was murdered in 1967 by his lover Kenneth Halliwell who then committed suicide].

“He would probably have followed a similar sort of career path as Harold Pinter if he had lived. If [playwright] John Osborne was the Angry Young Man, I always think of Orton as the Naughty Young Man.”

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