"Riotous performances, inspired staging and striking design all make this an exquisite revival of Joe Orton’s 1964 subversive, black comedy masterpiece...Director Craig Smith’s propulsive staging gloriously renders Orton’s vision of anti-establishment mayhem...Every joke uproariously lands, especially those about false teeth. The casting is perfection...This superb production affirms its enduring stature as a work of provocative dramatic literature."
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"Herein lies the problem with the play...It stretches credibility that a young stud would agree to settle into a house on the edge of nowhere and willingly fall into a relationship with a needy, overbearing woman...Phoenix Ensemble’s production is particularly disquieting. Under Smith’s direction, the show features four wholly unsympathetic characters...It’s cringe-inducing, and while there is abundant dark humor in the play, the takeaway is far more unsettling than it is entertaining."
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"This revival, directed by Craig Smith, is as good a production as anyone could wish. We are led through a gorgeously sordid farce with four misfits of differing stripes...How it goes wrong from there is at once predictable and surprising. That is the genius of Joe Orton—to never provide sure footing or an easy explanation. Life is menacing and funny, so laugh at your own peril...This production is outstanding."
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“Orton’s dialogue is fast, witty, and deceptively complex, such that it has the actors here almost chasing after it at times, and tripping here and there over their dubiously assumed accents...There are a couple of moments when the underlying pain is unintentionally allowed to override the humor...When the actors do hit the right beats, as they do more often than not, it is deliriously funny…A grotesquely clownish scenario that is as humorously alleviating as it is psychologically unsettling.”
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"This may be the first time I have found murder, incest, and blackmail so darn boring."
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“A deliciously decadent piece of vintage vice…Director Craig Smith, the play’s creative team, and the cast expertly transport us back to not-so-jolly old England in the '60s…The acting of all four players is superb. As Kath, the delightful Elise Stone is a larger-than-life force of nature…For those who have never seen the play, the final moment of 'Entertaining Mr. Sloane' alone is worth the 53-year wait!”
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"A hilarious, sexy, scathing farce...Director Craig Smith and his team have come up with unique flourishes that add amazing details to the stage action: dogs barking, background music and amusing piano flourishes that serve as a soundtrack, even incense and perfume. The production makes this 53-year-old play just as incendiary and sordid as it was when it debuted. It’s deliciously perverse and genuinely funny."
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