Entertaining.

To sum up a theatre production in one word is often difficult for a reviewer to do, but in the case of Entertaining Mr. Sloane, showing at the Old Fire Station Theatre this week, the title says it all, and the task of review seems simple, for a play that is, well, somewhat simple. All the characters are introduced in the first quarter of an hour, during which a middle-aged woman picks up a twenty-year-old boy she meets in the local library who is looking for a place to stay and brings him to her home, where she introduces him to her half-senile father and covertly homosexual brother, then attempts to seduce him before he's even had a chance to try out his own bed. Thus begins Mr. Sloane's entrance into the family of Kath and Ed, two siblings who spend the rest of the show competing for the boy's attentions and favour. The actors lead the audience through a farcical tale of sexuality and family relations, sometimes scandalous, sometimes outrageous, but always comical, filled with obvious puns and the conspicuous humour of a playwright known for his shock-appeal and shrewd wit.

Susan Hitch stood out among the cast with a forceful and convincing performance as Kath, a naive woman with her disreputable past written on her sleeve, or more aptly put, pouring from her mouth, as she hides nothing and divulges all-or does she? The characters' seeming simplicity should not be taken for granted, as the second act reveals the depth of each outrageous personality on stage, and leads to the unavoidable confusion and thickening of plot bound to occur when so many strange people are put under one roof. James Methven's direction was more than well done, and the ingenious idea of placing the audience on both sides of the stage adds to the appeal of a story that naughtily reveals a bit more when taken from all angles-pun intended.

- S. T. Stiles