This is one dysfunctional family with a weird twist on sibling rivalry.

Brother and sister are love-starved and have a history of being attracted to the same men. DaDa has diminished vision and keen insights…when they’re to be believed. And the opportunist  boarder killed a man. And they live happily ever after?

Playwright Joe Orton occupies some weird space with ‘Entertaining Mr. Sloane,’ presented by the Irish Classical Theatre Company, now to June 30.

The plot is pretty twisted: Mr. Sloane is the young boarder in the home Kath (played by Kelli Bocock-Natale) shares with her DaDa Kemp (Gerry Maher).  The relationship quickly escalates to an intimate one as Mr. Sloane (Anthony J. Grande) ingratiates himself to Kath…or gloms on to her neediness…or acquiesces to her advances. Bocock-Natale is sweetly adorable in this sad role: one minute she’s coy and flirtatious, then she’s aggressive in seeking Mr. Sloane’s, ahem, attentions, and then she’s in a flight of fancy where  she’s his doting mother who also desires him. Jocasta, your complex is calling.

Enter Ed, Kath’s brother. He’s the businessman of the family, the fixer, the problem solver. Alas, he’s also in a pretty tightly closed closet and only seems to desire men when Kath is after them, too.

And then there’s the enigma Mr. Sloane. Is he really who he says he is, someone in need of lodging?  Or is he a grifter, a tease, a miscreant in search of another bad deed?

After two and half hours, I just didn’t get it.

I did love the casting, and the set…the two best parts of every ICTC show. Bocock-Natale celebrates the innocent/nefarious moods of Kath, with a lilt in her voice and a flash in her eyes. You believe that she believes she is the caring mum Mr. Sloane misses and the femme fatale he desires. Stan Klimecko as Ed  is the model of a slightly slimy stalker: he controls his family’s household without being in it and feels entitled to do so. Maher’s Dada is dotty enough and sharp, too: he’s the one – the only one – suspecting that Mr. Sloane is not who he says he is. Grande’s Mr. Sloane is one dimensional. Somehow director Greg Natale didn’t bring out any real fire or passion from Grande’s performance. Yes, Mr. S looked appropriately shocked when Kath put the moves on him, and he played up to Ed’s attentions, too, but there was something “phoned in” about his performance that didn’t help a sagging, dragging plot come to life.

Natale did, however, take full advantage of ICTC’s stage and Bocock-Natale’s range of expressions and nuances. The Natale family is very functional and beloved in this theater community for good reason. Vivian DelBello’s costumes were fine: Kath slipped from motherly muumuu to satin lingerie to a girlish floral frock that fit Kath’s fluctuating self-perceptions. Amanda Lytle Sharpe kept everyone’s accent consistent and level. David Dwyer’s set had the right look and feel  for a fine home that maybe isn’t aging as graciously as it should.

The ending left me wondering, too. The whole script was at a weak simmer below the surface. Nothing really bubbled up to be exciting or provocative (hey, even in the early 1960s, May-December romances happen, people were cruel and siblings rivaled), and the ending was pretty flat. I didn’t want “more” of this story after two and half hours, I did want it to end with more gumption. Regrettably, ‘Entertaining Mr. Sloane’ didn’t entertain me.

Running Time: 2 Hours 30 minutes with one-10 minute intermission.

‘Entertaining Mr. Sloane’ is onstage until June 30, 2019 and is presented at Irish Classical Theatre. For more information, click here.