A Prurient Gaze

  Alexander Bednall stars as the troubled title character—a young man with a dark past who has come to rent a room from a woman named Kath (Shannon Sloan-Spice.) Kath’s flirtatious nature is charming enough, but Sloane also has to deal with Kath’s abusive brother Ed (Karl Miller) and her aging father (David Roper) who may know something about his past.

  The failure of the comedy would make this production almost entirely unpleasant were it not for the fact that the cast delivers the heated drama of the play as impressively as it does. Bednall delivers anger and spite in thoroughly entertaining form. There’s a kind of hunger in his demeanor that’s interesting to watch. His restless frustration isn’t bad, either. Miller doesn’t cut an imposing enough figure to seem truly threatening in the role of Ed, but what he lacks in ferocity he makes up for in sheer seediness. Orton casts Kath and her father in some pretty unflattering light, but Roper and Sloan-Spice manage to render a profound amount of dignity in very human performances.

  Without a sophisticated delivery of Orton’s humor, Mr. Sloane has the unpleasant distinction of feeling like watching people yell at each other for two hours. The cast holds up remarkably well, however. The performances are compelling enough to hold the audience’s attention even if the characters aren’t entirely pleasant.