Entertaining Mr Sloane, Young Vic review - funny, flawed but welcome nonetheless

★★★ ENTERTAINING MR SLOANE, YOUNG VIC Lively star-led revival of Joe Orton’s 1964 debut raises uncomfortable questions

Lively star-led revival of Joe Orton’s 1964 debut raises uncomfortable questions

Playwright Joe Orton was a merry prankster. His main work – such as Loot (1965) and What the Butler Saw (1969) – was provocative, taboo-tickling and often wildly hilarious. Now the Young Vic is staging a revival of his debut, Entertaining Mr Sloane, directed by this venue’s new supremo Nadia Fall, and starring celebrity polymath Jordan Stephens. But does 1960s provocation still resonate today?

Music Reissues Weekly: Sly and the Family Stone - The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967

Must-have, first-ever release of the earliest document of the legendary soul outfit

The remarkable The First Family: Live At Winchester Cathedral 1967 represents the first-ever release of a previously unheard recording of a 26 March 1967 Sly and the Family Stone live show. It is the earliest document of Sly and Co. to surface.

Blu-ray: The Graduate

★★★ BLU-RAY: THE GRADUATE Post #MeToo, can Mike Nichols' second feature still lay claim to Classic Film status?

Post #MeToo, can Mike Nichols' second feature still lay claim to Classic Film status?

Can a film’s classic status expire, or be rescinded? If it can, I’d say The Graduate is a potential candidate.

Music Reissues Weekly: The Outer Limits - Just One More Chance

THE OUTER LIMITS - JUST ONE MORE CHANCE Discover the Sixties mod-pop band from Leeds

Exhaustive anthology unearths the full story of the Sixties mod-pop band from Leeds

The Outer Limits were from Leeds. Active over 1965 to 1968, the soul-tinged mod-poppers didn’t chart, but their two regular singles are now pricey collector’s items. There was also, before the orthodox 45s, a track on a Leeds University charity fund-raising single.

theartsdesk Radio Show 37 - Pete Lawrence of the Big Chill discusses the power of protest music and his new project This Is The Fire

THEARTSDESK RADIO SHOW 37 Talking to cultural activist Pete Lawrence – camp outs, singalongs and saving the world

Talking to cultural activist Pete Lawrence – camp outs, singalongs and saving the world

This edition of Peter Culshaw’s peripatetic radio show features guest Pete Lawrence. Pete is one of the good guys – a positive force in the culture, as he says "my life's work is bringing people together".

TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW CLICK THIS LINK

Music Reissues Weekly: The Beatles - What's The New, Mary Jane

John Lennon’s queasy, see-sawing oddity becomes the subject of a whole album

“What's the New Mary Jane” is a nursery rhyme-like song, one of John Lennon’s most peculiar offerings. It was recorded for late 1968’s double album The Beatles (i.e. the White Album) but, literally, did not make the cut. Nonetheless, John Lennon would not let it go.

Blu-ray: Who Wants to Kill Jessie?

Fast-paced and visually inventive Czech comedy

"Crazy comedy" was a recognised subgenre in post-war Czech cinema. Turn to this disc’s bonus features first and watch Michael Brooke’s video essay Those Crazy Czechs, an entertaining whistle-stop guide which piqued my curiosity about films such as You Are a Widow, Sir!, I Killed Einstein, Gentlemen! and How About a Plate of Spinach?

Music Reissues Weekly: The Final Solution - Just Like Gold

THE FINAL SOLUTION - JUST LIKE GOLD San Francisco psychedelic pioneers

Despite their idiotic name, these San Francisco psychedelic pioneers sounded astonishing

The booklet coming with Just Like Gold - Live At The Matrix frequently refers to the band as “The Solution.” It will be the same here.

With respect to the name this pioneering San Francisco psychedelic outfit did choose, their drummer John Chance is quoted in the booklet as saying “My mother was really upset about it [the band’s name], and I knew why.”

Blu-ray: Two Way Stretch / Heavens Above!

BLU-RAY: TWO WAY STRETCH / HEAVENS ABOVE! Two gems from Peter Sellers in his prime

'Peak Sellers': two gems from a great comic actor in his prime

The years between 1955’s The Ladykillers and 1964’s Dr Strangelove were the years of what Sanjeev Bhaskar recently described as "peak Sellers", a period when the great comic actor rarely seemed to put a foot wrong. Two Way Stretch and Heavens Above! succeed largely because both films feature Peter Sellers alongside talented supporting casts, his performances by necessity subtler and more nuanced.