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Stage Review: A mysteriously unconvincing 'Mr. Sloane'
Thursday, March 30, 2000 By John Hayes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
He's the boarder from hell -- manipulative, sexually insistent, physically abusive, self-serving and wanted for the murder of a friend of the landlord's family. He's the houseguest who won't go away, but not because the owners want him out.
Exactly why they won't let him leave is the overriding question posed by playwright Joe Orton and one that director Martin Giles struggles to answer.
"Entertaining Mr. Sloane" is a dark comedy -- darker than it is comedic -- presented by Penn Avenue's temporary boarders, New Teeth. The Pittsburgh premiere of Orton's first full-length play dramatically asks the question at the heart of the story. After Sloane insinuates his way into the home of a randy widow, he satisfies her needs for cash and caresses. Without explicitly saying anything, her controlling brother seems to have a leering eye on him, too. Only their elderly father sees Sloane's dark side, but nobody pays much attention to his warnings.
Answering Orton's odd question is another matter. Rajesh Bose in the title role confuses being motionless and emotionless with appearing aloof and enigmatic. He plays it neither culturally cool nor sexually hot in a role that calls for a charismatic supernova. The dysfunctional brother and sister could logically keep him there for either sex or power. Bose doesn't play it like a sexual possession and shows no signs of subordination. The question remains, why do they make him stay?
Ironically, the strength of the play's other actors may be overwhelming Bose. With a flat-footed pigeon walk and a quirky sexuality, Laura Kazimir gives a sterling performance as the aroused, naive and hopelessly forgiving landlord. She's the play's comic relief, sparking humor at will with her awkward come-ons and homebound simplicity. Kazimir milks laughter from the crowd, hesitating until the right moment to deliver lines and playing well against Jim Cook as her manipulative brother.
Cook, familiar with the stage since its Upstairs Theatre days, bowls over Bose in flirtatious dialogue designed to establish Cook's character as a mentor to the young ruffian. He, too, seems overly forgiving of lies and transgressions that might be overlooked in a more convincing character.
Believable as a neglected old man, Mark Tierno has the sole responsibility of challenging Bose in scenes that give the struggling actor a chance to play something more than coy. Bose rises to the occasion, playing at least the cruelty and physical abuse well.
Orton's work is a subtle play that explodes in barbaric violence. It's possible for the audience to accept that those kinds of things could be forgiven, but they'd need a pretty good reason. New Teeth asks the right question but doesn't have an answer.
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Where: Penn Avenue Theatre, 4809 Penn Ave., Bloomfield/Garfield.