Black Comedy
Encyclopedia
Black Comedy is a one-act farce
by Peter Shaffer
, first performed in 1965.
The play is written to be staged under a reversed lighting scheme: the play opens on a darkened stage. A few minutes into the show there is a short circuit
, and the stage is illuminated to reveal the characters in a "blackout." On the few occasions when matches, lighters, or torches are lit, the lights grow dimmer. The title of the play is a pun
.
Brindsley Miller, a young sculptor, and his debutante fiancée Carol Melkett have borrowed some expensive, antique furniture from his neighbor Harold's flat without his permission in order to impress an elderly millionaire art collector coming to view Brindsley's work, and Carol's father Colonel Melkett. When the power fails, Harold returns early, and Brindsley's ex-mistress Clea shows up unexpectedly, things slide into disaster for him.
, London
on a Sunday evening at 9:30. The play begins in complete darkness.
Brindsley Miller, a young sculptor, and his debutante fiancée, Carol Melkett, have stolen some very expensive antique items and furniture from his neighbor Harold Gorringe, who is away for the weekend, in an attempt to spruce up his normally slum-like apartment in order to impress a wealthy art collector, Georg Bamberger, who is coming to view his work, and Carol's father, Colonel Melkett. As they contemplate the coming evening, Carol inquires about Brindsley's previous mistress, a painter named Clea. Brindsley tells her that he saw her for only three months and that the relationship took place two years ago. Just as Carol places a Sousa
march on the record player, a fuse
short circuits causing a blackout. The stage is instantly illuminated.
As Brindsley and Carol search for matches, the phone rings and Brindsley answers it. It is Clea, who has just returned from Finland, and wants to arrange a liaison for that evening. Brindsley hurriedly distracts Carol with a bogus story about fuse wire in his bedroom loft. He desperately denies to see Clea, and informs Carol when she returns that it was "just a chum."
Miss Furnival, a spinster and lifelong teetotaler, the occupant of the flat upstairs, enters seeking refuge from her fear of the dark. She informs them that the street lamps are still alight, and Brindsley deduces that the short-curcuit occurred in the main power box in the cellar. He and Carol ring the London Electricity Board, but are told only that an electrician might arrive sometime later that night. Miss Furnival suggests that Brindsley look for candles in Harold Gorringe's apartment across the hall, and he exits.
Carol's father, Colonel Melkett, arrives with an illuminated lighter, and is unimpressed with one of Brindsley's sculptures—a large work in iron with two prongs. Miss Furnival realizes that the room is full of her friend Harold's furniture, including a fine porcelain Buddha—Harold's most valuable possession. Carol frantically decoys the Colonel into Brindsley's studio to see the rest of his work. She explains the situation to Miss Furnival, who reluctantly agrees not to betray them to Harold.
When Brindsley returns unsuccessful from his search, the Colonel takes an almost instant dislike to him. At his suggestion, Brindsley exits to retrieve torches from a nearby pub. But just as he is leaving, Harold Gorringe returns from his weekend early. Brindsley quickly pulls him into the flat so that he will not go into his own and find his possessions stolen. Harold is unable to recognize his own furniture in the dark, and in order to keep him from lighting a match and discovering the thievery, Brindsley concocts the excuse of a possible gas leak.
Brindsley pretends to leave for the pub, and as Carol blindly mixes drinks, he attempts to restore as much of the stolen furniture to Harold's flat as possible. As Brindsley enters and exits with various objects, wrapping the Buddha in Harold's raincoat, the four guests discuss the imminent arrival of Georg Bamberger. Harold reveals some facts he read in the Sunday Mirror
: The reclusive Bamberger is known as "the mystery millionaire," and is apparently stone deaf.
There is a mix up as Carol hands out the drinks in the dark, Miss Furnival is mistakenly given the Colonel's whiskey. The four attempt to rectify the confusion, but to no avail, Miss Furnival now receives Harold's gin. Finally, the Colonel angrily illuminates his lighter, revealing Brindsley. He lies unconvincingly, claiming that he has been to pub, found it closed, and returned. The Colonel rages at him "If you think I'm going to let my daughter marry a born liar, you're very much mistaken sir!" It is now that Harold discovers Brindsley and Carol's engagement, and he is furious at the news. It is obvious that he himself has secret feelings for Brindsley.
Brindsley and Carol manage to arrange grudging reconciliations between themselves, the Colonel and Harold, and Miss Furnival, hooked after her first taste of alcohol, stealthily procures more liquor. Just then, Clea enters unannounced. Unaware of her presence, the others begin to speak ill of her. Harold spitefully deems her "ugly," Miss Furnival continues by recalling her as "tiresomely Bohemian," and Carol proclaims of a photo she found of her "she looked like The Bartered Bride done by Lloyds Bank Operatic Society." At this, everyone bursts into a gale of laughter, and Clea slaps Brindsley in the face. In the confusion, Brindsley catches hold of Clea's bottom, and instantly recognizes it. He manages to retreat with her to the loft, where his desperate pleas that she leave dissolve into passionate kisses. When she refuses to go, he concedes that she can stay in the loft, if she will not come downstairs.
Just as Carol begins to grow suspicious about the activity in Brindsley's bedroom, Schuppanzigh, the German electrician sent to repair the fuse arrives, and everyone excitedly mistakes him for Bamberger. The electrician, with his lit torch, catches sight of Brindsley's sculpture, and is extremely impressed with it. In order to hide Harold's still unreturned Regency sofa, Brindsley challenges the German to examine the sculpture in the dark, claiming it was made to be appreciated in the dark. Schuppanzigh agrees, and turns off the torch. In the restored darkness, Brindsley pulls the sofa into his studio, unaware that the drunken Miss Furnival is lying on it. Upon catching hold of the two metal prongs, Schuppanzigh proclaims to everyone's astonishment "It's quite true! When viewed like this the piece becomes a masterpiece at once!" The electrician proceeds to give an eloquent lecture, praising Brindsley as "a master!" and calling the prongs "the two needles of man's unrest. Self-love and self-hate leading to the same point!" Just as the statue seems on the point of being sold for five hundred guineas, Schuppanzeigh's true identity is discovered, and everyone turns on him in outrage. He is at once cast down to the cellar to mend the fuse.
Just as the electrician descends, Miss Furnival is heard in the studio, singing "Rock of Ages" in a high, drunken voice. Attracted by the sound, Clea emerges from the loft, dressed in one of Brindsley's night shirts. She overhears Carol consoling Brindsley with an idyllic portrait of their future married life. Outraged on discovering Brindsley's secret, Clea dashes Vodka over the startled guests. In an utter panic, Brindsley invents a cleaning woman named "Mrs Punnett," and to his surprise Clea goes along with him, speaking in a contrived Cockney voice of great antiquity. But to Brindsley's horror, Clea uses the guise of Mrs. Punnett to infuriate Carol and the Colonel with shocking tales of parties and "kinky games in the dark" and reveal her affair with Brindsley.
When Clea confesses her true identity, in complete charge of the situation, Carol is horrified. But her hysterics are interrupted as Miss Furnival emerges from the studio, lost in a world of her own fears, proclaiming a passionate, drunken tirade in which she rants on the terrors of the supermarket, calls to her dead father, and prophesies a judgement day when "the heathens in their leather jackets" will be "stricken from their motorcycles." She is led out by a consoling Harold.
Brindsley and Clea are left alone with Carol and the Colonel. The disheveled Carol breaks off their engagement and the Colonel advances on Brindsley in blind fury. But the Colonel's rage is interrupted and surpassed as Harold re-enters with a terrible shriek of anger, a lit taper burning in his hand. He has just discovered the state of his room and screams at Brindsley in betrayed aguish, demanding his remaining possessions be returned.
As Harold moves to exit again, he grabs his raincoat. But inside it, of course, is the Buddha. It falls out and smashes beyond repair. Harold snaps. He turns on Brindsley and declares "with the quietness of the mad," "I think I'm going to have to smash you Brindsley." Abruptly, he pulls one of the metal prongs out of the statue, and advances on him. The Colonel follows suit, pulling the other prong, and together he and Harold advance on the terrified sculptor. Clea comes to his rescue. She blows out Harold's taper, casting the room into darkness once more, and pulling Brindsley to safety on the center table. The two men hunt their quarry in the dark.
Now, finally, Georg Bamberger arrives, dressed in the Gulbenkian
manner, and carrying a large deaf aid
. This time, the guests mistake the millionaire for the electritian, until Schuppanzigh emerges from the cellar, proclaiming that the fuse is fixed. The startled guests realize that Bamberger has, at long last, arrived, and Brindsley exclaims happily "Everything's all right now! Just in the nick of time!" But just as he says this, Bamberger falls into the open trapdoor. Harold, the Colonel, and Carol advance on Brindsley and Clea, as Schuppanzigh moves to the light switch, saying "God said: "Let there be light!" And there was, good people, suddenly — astoundingly — instantaneously — inconceivably — inexhaustibly — inextinguishably and eternally — LIGHT!" And with a great flourish, he flicks the light switch--there is instant darkness, as with an exultant crash the Sousa march blazes away in the black.
dramaturge Kenneth Tynan
commissioned Shaffer to write a one-act play to accompany a production of Miss Julie
starring Maggie Smith
and Albert Finney
. Shaffer later wrote in the introduction to his 1982 Collected Plays: "Without much conviction, but with the sort of energy which Tynan always elicited from me, I described my idea of a party given in a London flat, played in Chinese darkness-- full light--because of a power failure in the building. We would watch the guests behave in a situation of increasing chaos, but they would of course remain throughout quite unable to see one another. Ever one to appreciate a theatrical idea, Tynan dragged me off instantly to see Laurence Olivier, the director of the National. In vain did I protest that there really was no play, merely a convention, and that anyway I had to travel immediately to New York to write a film script. Olivier simply looked through me with his own Chinese and unseeing eyes, said "It's all going to be thrilling!" and left the room."
So, Shaffer set about composing the play. In order to produce a more sustaining dramatic premise than the mere gimmick of inverse lighting, Shaffer devised the notion that one of the characters had a reason to actually keep the others in the dark. It was from this necessity that the idea of the stolen furniture was conceived, and the theme of lies was solidified. Brindsley would keep his guests in the dark--both figuratively and literally.
Tynan would later say of the rehearsal process: "This was farce rehearsed in farce conditions." Due to scheduling difficulties at Chichester, Black Comedy was given very little rehearsal time, and it would later open without a single public preview. The play was directed by John Dexter
--who had directed Shaffer's previous play The Royal Hunt of the Sun
, and would go on to direct Equus
--with what Shaffer called "blazing precision." He went on to say that "it was acted with unmatchable brio by Smith and Finney, by Derek Jacobi as an incomparable Brindsley, and by Graham Crowden as a savagely lunatic Colonel Melkett." Maggie Smith had previously starred in two of Shaffer's previous plays, The Private Ear and The Public Eye, which were performed as a double bill at the Globe Theatre
.
The White Liars was first performed in 1967 under the title White Lies, with the original Broadway production of Black Comedy. It was billed as a "curtain-raiser" to Black Comedy. Peter Shaffer retitled the play for subsequent productions.
The White Liars is shorter than Black Comedy. It concerns a down-on-her-luck fortune teller living in a decaying seaside resort, and the two young men—Tom, the lead singer in a rock band, and Frank, his business manager—who consult her. It is more serious fare than its farcical counterpart.
by the National Theatre
on July 27, 1965, and subsequently at The Old Vic Theatre, London, directed by John Dexter
with the following cast:
Brindsley Miller...Derek Jacobi
Carol Melkett...Louise Purnell
Miss Furnival...Doris Hare
Colonel Melkett...Graham Crowden
Harold Gorringe...Albert Finney
Schuppanzigh...Paul Curran
Clea...Maggie Smith
Georg Bamberger...Michael Byrne
directed by John Dexter
with the following cast:
White Lies:
Sophie: Baroness Lemberg...Geraldine Page
Frank...Donald Madden
Tom...Michael Crawford
Black Comedy:
Brindsley Miller...Michael Crawford
Carol Melkett...Lynn Redgrave
Miss Furnival...Camila Ashland
Colonel Melkett...Peter Bull
Harold Gorringe...Donald Madden
Schuppanzigh...Pierre Epstein
Clea...Geraldine Page
Georg Bamberger...Michael Miller
The production featured the Broadway debut of both Michael Crawford and Lynn Redgrave.
The production previewed from January 31, 1967 and opened on February 12, 1967. It closed on December 2, 1967 after a total of 14 previews and 337 performances.
s:
In addition, Jordan Christopher, Michael Crawford's replacement, won the Theatre World Award
for his portrayal of Brindsley.
The White Liars:
Sophie, Baroness Lemberg...Dorothy Reynolds
Frank...James Bolam
Tom...Ian McKellen
Black Comedy:
Brindsley Miller...James Bolam
Carol Melkett...Angela Scoular
Miss Furnival...Dorothy Reynolds
Colonel Melkett...Robert Flemying
Harold Gorringe...Ian McKellen
Schuppanzigh...Ken Wynne
Clea...Liz Fraser
Georg Bamburger...Christopher Fagan
White Lies was rewritten extensively by Peter Shaffer for this production and retitled The White Liars.
by the Dolphin Company in July 1976 directed by Paul Giovanni
.
The production featured Timothy Dalton as Harold Gorringe and Tom.
The White Liars was rewritten by Peter Shaffer for this production.
directed by Gerald Gutierrez
with the following cast:
White Liars:
Sophie: Baroness Lemberg...Nancy Marchand
Frank...Peter MacNicol
Tom...David Aaron Baker
Black Comedy:
Brindsley Miller...Peter MacNicol
Carol Melkett...Anne Bobby
Miss Furnival...Nancy Marchand
Colonel Melkett...Keene Curtis
Harold Gorringe...Brian Murray
Schuppanzigh...Robert Stattel
Clea...Kate Mulgrew
Georg Bamberger...Ray Xifo
Nancy Marchand
was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
for her performance as Miss Furnival.
Both Black Comedy and The White Liars were rewritten by Peter Shaffer for this production.
The production previewed from August 10, 1993 and opened on September 1, 1993. It closed on October 3, 1993 after a total of 25 previews and 38 performances.
's The Real Inspector Hound
at the Comedy Theatre by Warehouse Productions on April 22, 1998 directed by Greg Doran with the following cast:
Brindsley Miller...David Tennant
Carol Melkett...Anna Chancellor
Miss Furnival...Nichola McAuliffe
Colonel Melkett...Gary Waldhorn
Harold Gorringe...Desmond Barritt
Schuppanzigh...Geoffrey Freshwater
Clea...Amanda Harris
Georg Bamberger...Joseph Millson
Peter Shaffer rewrote Black Comedy for this production.
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
by Peter Shaffer
Peter Shaffer
Sir Peter Levin Shaffer is an English dramatist and playwright, screenwriter and author of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been filmed.-Early life:...
, first performed in 1965.
The play is written to be staged under a reversed lighting scheme: the play opens on a darkened stage. A few minutes into the show there is a short circuit
Short circuit
A short circuit in an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path, often where essentially no electrical impedance is encountered....
, and the stage is illuminated to reveal the characters in a "blackout." On the few occasions when matches, lighters, or torches are lit, the lights grow dimmer. The title of the play is a pun
Pun
The pun, also called paronomasia, is a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use and abuse of homophonic,...
.
Brindsley Miller, a young sculptor, and his debutante fiancée Carol Melkett have borrowed some expensive, antique furniture from his neighbor Harold's flat without his permission in order to impress an elderly millionaire art collector coming to view Brindsley's work, and Carol's father Colonel Melkett. When the power fails, Harold returns early, and Brindsley's ex-mistress Clea shows up unexpectedly, things slide into disaster for him.
Brindsley Miller
A young sculptor (mid-twenties), intelligent and attractive, but nervous and uncertain of himself.Carol Melkett
His fiancée. A young debutante; very pretty, very spoiled; very silly. Her sound is that unmistakable, terrifying deb quack.Miss Furnival
A middle-aged spinster. Prissy; and refined. Clad in the blouse and sack skirt of her gentility, her hair in a bun, her voice in a bun, she reveals only the repressed gestures of the middle-class spinster—until alcohol undoes her.Colonel Melkett
Carol's commanding father. Brisk, barky, yet given to sudden vocal calms which suggest a deep and alarming instability. It is not only the constant darkness which gives him his look of wide-eyed suspicion.Harold Gorringe
The camp owner of an antique-china shop, and Brindsley's neighbour, Harold comes from the North of England. His friendship is highly conditional and possessive: sooner or later, payment for it will be asked. A specialist in emotional blackmail, he can become hysterical when slighted, or (as inevitably happens) rejected. He is older than Brindsley by several years.Schuppanzigh
A middle-class German refugee, chubby, cultivated, and effervescent. He is an entirely happy man, delighted to be in England, even if this means being employed full time by the London Electricity Board.Clea
Brindsley's ex-mistress. Mid-twenties; dazzling, emotional, bright and mischievous. The challenge to her to create a dramatic situation out of the darkness is ultimately irresistible.Georg Bamberger
An elderly millionaire art collector, easily identifiable as such. Like Schuppanzigh, he is a German.Synopsis
The action of the play takes place in Brindsley Miller's apartment in South KensingtonSouth Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on a Sunday evening at 9:30. The play begins in complete darkness.
Brindsley Miller, a young sculptor, and his debutante fiancée, Carol Melkett, have stolen some very expensive antique items and furniture from his neighbor Harold Gorringe, who is away for the weekend, in an attempt to spruce up his normally slum-like apartment in order to impress a wealthy art collector, Georg Bamberger, who is coming to view his work, and Carol's father, Colonel Melkett. As they contemplate the coming evening, Carol inquires about Brindsley's previous mistress, a painter named Clea. Brindsley tells her that he saw her for only three months and that the relationship took place two years ago. Just as Carol places a Sousa
John Philip Sousa
John Philip Sousa was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era, known particularly for American military and patriotic marches. Because of his mastery of march composition, he is known as "The March King" or the "American March King" due to his British counterpart Kenneth J....
march on the record player, a fuse
Fuse (electrical)
In electronics and electrical engineering, a fuse is a type of low resistance resistor that acts as a sacrificial device to provide overcurrent protection, of either the load or source circuit...
short circuits causing a blackout. The stage is instantly illuminated.
As Brindsley and Carol search for matches, the phone rings and Brindsley answers it. It is Clea, who has just returned from Finland, and wants to arrange a liaison for that evening. Brindsley hurriedly distracts Carol with a bogus story about fuse wire in his bedroom loft. He desperately denies to see Clea, and informs Carol when she returns that it was "just a chum."
Miss Furnival, a spinster and lifelong teetotaler, the occupant of the flat upstairs, enters seeking refuge from her fear of the dark. She informs them that the street lamps are still alight, and Brindsley deduces that the short-curcuit occurred in the main power box in the cellar. He and Carol ring the London Electricity Board, but are told only that an electrician might arrive sometime later that night. Miss Furnival suggests that Brindsley look for candles in Harold Gorringe's apartment across the hall, and he exits.
Carol's father, Colonel Melkett, arrives with an illuminated lighter, and is unimpressed with one of Brindsley's sculptures—a large work in iron with two prongs. Miss Furnival realizes that the room is full of her friend Harold's furniture, including a fine porcelain Buddha—Harold's most valuable possession. Carol frantically decoys the Colonel into Brindsley's studio to see the rest of his work. She explains the situation to Miss Furnival, who reluctantly agrees not to betray them to Harold.
When Brindsley returns unsuccessful from his search, the Colonel takes an almost instant dislike to him. At his suggestion, Brindsley exits to retrieve torches from a nearby pub. But just as he is leaving, Harold Gorringe returns from his weekend early. Brindsley quickly pulls him into the flat so that he will not go into his own and find his possessions stolen. Harold is unable to recognize his own furniture in the dark, and in order to keep him from lighting a match and discovering the thievery, Brindsley concocts the excuse of a possible gas leak.
Brindsley pretends to leave for the pub, and as Carol blindly mixes drinks, he attempts to restore as much of the stolen furniture to Harold's flat as possible. As Brindsley enters and exits with various objects, wrapping the Buddha in Harold's raincoat, the four guests discuss the imminent arrival of Georg Bamberger. Harold reveals some facts he read in the Sunday Mirror
Sunday Mirror
The Sunday Mirror is the Sunday sister paper of the Daily Mirror. It began life in 1915 as the Sunday Pictorial and was renamed the Sunday Mirror in 1963. Trinity Mirror also owns The People...
: The reclusive Bamberger is known as "the mystery millionaire," and is apparently stone deaf.
There is a mix up as Carol hands out the drinks in the dark, Miss Furnival is mistakenly given the Colonel's whiskey. The four attempt to rectify the confusion, but to no avail, Miss Furnival now receives Harold's gin. Finally, the Colonel angrily illuminates his lighter, revealing Brindsley. He lies unconvincingly, claiming that he has been to pub, found it closed, and returned. The Colonel rages at him "If you think I'm going to let my daughter marry a born liar, you're very much mistaken sir!" It is now that Harold discovers Brindsley and Carol's engagement, and he is furious at the news. It is obvious that he himself has secret feelings for Brindsley.
Brindsley and Carol manage to arrange grudging reconciliations between themselves, the Colonel and Harold, and Miss Furnival, hooked after her first taste of alcohol, stealthily procures more liquor. Just then, Clea enters unannounced. Unaware of her presence, the others begin to speak ill of her. Harold spitefully deems her "ugly," Miss Furnival continues by recalling her as "tiresomely Bohemian," and Carol proclaims of a photo she found of her "she looked like The Bartered Bride done by Lloyds Bank Operatic Society." At this, everyone bursts into a gale of laughter, and Clea slaps Brindsley in the face. In the confusion, Brindsley catches hold of Clea's bottom, and instantly recognizes it. He manages to retreat with her to the loft, where his desperate pleas that she leave dissolve into passionate kisses. When she refuses to go, he concedes that she can stay in the loft, if she will not come downstairs.
Just as Carol begins to grow suspicious about the activity in Brindsley's bedroom, Schuppanzigh, the German electrician sent to repair the fuse arrives, and everyone excitedly mistakes him for Bamberger. The electrician, with his lit torch, catches sight of Brindsley's sculpture, and is extremely impressed with it. In order to hide Harold's still unreturned Regency sofa, Brindsley challenges the German to examine the sculpture in the dark, claiming it was made to be appreciated in the dark. Schuppanzigh agrees, and turns off the torch. In the restored darkness, Brindsley pulls the sofa into his studio, unaware that the drunken Miss Furnival is lying on it. Upon catching hold of the two metal prongs, Schuppanzigh proclaims to everyone's astonishment "It's quite true! When viewed like this the piece becomes a masterpiece at once!" The electrician proceeds to give an eloquent lecture, praising Brindsley as "a master!" and calling the prongs "the two needles of man's unrest. Self-love and self-hate leading to the same point!" Just as the statue seems on the point of being sold for five hundred guineas, Schuppanzeigh's true identity is discovered, and everyone turns on him in outrage. He is at once cast down to the cellar to mend the fuse.
Just as the electrician descends, Miss Furnival is heard in the studio, singing "Rock of Ages" in a high, drunken voice. Attracted by the sound, Clea emerges from the loft, dressed in one of Brindsley's night shirts. She overhears Carol consoling Brindsley with an idyllic portrait of their future married life. Outraged on discovering Brindsley's secret, Clea dashes Vodka over the startled guests. In an utter panic, Brindsley invents a cleaning woman named "Mrs Punnett," and to his surprise Clea goes along with him, speaking in a contrived Cockney voice of great antiquity. But to Brindsley's horror, Clea uses the guise of Mrs. Punnett to infuriate Carol and the Colonel with shocking tales of parties and "kinky games in the dark" and reveal her affair with Brindsley.
When Clea confesses her true identity, in complete charge of the situation, Carol is horrified. But her hysterics are interrupted as Miss Furnival emerges from the studio, lost in a world of her own fears, proclaiming a passionate, drunken tirade in which she rants on the terrors of the supermarket, calls to her dead father, and prophesies a judgement day when "the heathens in their leather jackets" will be "stricken from their motorcycles." She is led out by a consoling Harold.
Brindsley and Clea are left alone with Carol and the Colonel. The disheveled Carol breaks off their engagement and the Colonel advances on Brindsley in blind fury. But the Colonel's rage is interrupted and surpassed as Harold re-enters with a terrible shriek of anger, a lit taper burning in his hand. He has just discovered the state of his room and screams at Brindsley in betrayed aguish, demanding his remaining possessions be returned.
As Harold moves to exit again, he grabs his raincoat. But inside it, of course, is the Buddha. It falls out and smashes beyond repair. Harold snaps. He turns on Brindsley and declares "with the quietness of the mad," "I think I'm going to have to smash you Brindsley." Abruptly, he pulls one of the metal prongs out of the statue, and advances on him. The Colonel follows suit, pulling the other prong, and together he and Harold advance on the terrified sculptor. Clea comes to his rescue. She blows out Harold's taper, casting the room into darkness once more, and pulling Brindsley to safety on the center table. The two men hunt their quarry in the dark.
Now, finally, Georg Bamberger arrives, dressed in the Gulbenkian
Calouste Gulbenkian
Calouste Sarkis Gulbenkian was an Armenian businessman and philanthropist. He played a major role in making the petroleum reserves of the Middle East available to Western development...
manner, and carrying a large deaf aid
Ear trumpet
Ear trumpets are tubular or funnel-shaped devices which collect sound waves and lead them into the ear. This results in a strengthening of the sound energy impact to the eardrum and thus a better hearing for a reduced or decreased hearing individual....
. This time, the guests mistake the millionaire for the electritian, until Schuppanzigh emerges from the cellar, proclaiming that the fuse is fixed. The startled guests realize that Bamberger has, at long last, arrived, and Brindsley exclaims happily "Everything's all right now! Just in the nick of time!" But just as he says this, Bamberger falls into the open trapdoor. Harold, the Colonel, and Carol advance on Brindsley and Clea, as Schuppanzigh moves to the light switch, saying "God said: "Let there be light!" And there was, good people, suddenly — astoundingly — instantaneously — inconceivably — inexhaustibly — inextinguishably and eternally — LIGHT!" And with a great flourish, he flicks the light switch--there is instant darkness, as with an exultant crash the Sousa march blazes away in the black.
Development
In the early spring of 1965, National TheatreRoyal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
dramaturge Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan was an influential and often controversial English theatre critic and writer.-Early life:...
commissioned Shaffer to write a one-act play to accompany a production of Miss Julie
Miss Julie
Miss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...
starring Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
and Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
. Shaffer later wrote in the introduction to his 1982 Collected Plays: "Without much conviction, but with the sort of energy which Tynan always elicited from me, I described my idea of a party given in a London flat, played in Chinese darkness-- full light--because of a power failure in the building. We would watch the guests behave in a situation of increasing chaos, but they would of course remain throughout quite unable to see one another. Ever one to appreciate a theatrical idea, Tynan dragged me off instantly to see Laurence Olivier, the director of the National. In vain did I protest that there really was no play, merely a convention, and that anyway I had to travel immediately to New York to write a film script. Olivier simply looked through me with his own Chinese and unseeing eyes, said "It's all going to be thrilling!" and left the room."
So, Shaffer set about composing the play. In order to produce a more sustaining dramatic premise than the mere gimmick of inverse lighting, Shaffer devised the notion that one of the characters had a reason to actually keep the others in the dark. It was from this necessity that the idea of the stolen furniture was conceived, and the theme of lies was solidified. Brindsley would keep his guests in the dark--both figuratively and literally.
Tynan would later say of the rehearsal process: "This was farce rehearsed in farce conditions." Due to scheduling difficulties at Chichester, Black Comedy was given very little rehearsal time, and it would later open without a single public preview. The play was directed by John Dexter
John Dexter
John Dexter was an English theatre, opera, and film director.- Theatre :Born in Derby, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British army during World War II. Following the war, he began working as a stage actor before turning to producing and directing shows for...
--who had directed Shaffer's previous play The Royal Hunt of the Sun
The Royal Hunt of the Sun
The Royal Hunt of the Sun is a 1964 play by Peter Shaffer that portrays the destruction of the Inca empire by conquistador Francisco Pizarro.-Premiere:...
, and would go on to direct Equus
Equus (play)
Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses....
--with what Shaffer called "blazing precision." He went on to say that "it was acted with unmatchable brio by Smith and Finney, by Derek Jacobi as an incomparable Brindsley, and by Graham Crowden as a savagely lunatic Colonel Melkett." Maggie Smith had previously starred in two of Shaffer's previous plays, The Private Ear and The Public Eye, which were performed as a double bill at the Globe Theatre
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
.
Reception
The opening night of Black Comedy was a resounding success. Shaffer would describe the performance in his 1982 introduction as "a veritable detonation of human glee." In particular, Shaffer would recall vividly one specific audience member, "an enormously fat man in front of me, who hadn’t laughed once, he was the only man in the theatre, I think, who wasn’t laughing, and I decided that if he disliked it, it was a failure--I didn’t know who he was, just that he was in my eye line, and if he liked it it was a success, you know how rational one can be—suddenly [he] laughed like...a volcano about to erupt, and he fell in the aisle and began to crawl towards the stage...sobbing with laughter—and calling out to the actors—this was on the first night—crawling down among the knees of the critics and all that saying, “Oh stop it, please stop it, please stop it! I can’t bear it!” It was possibly the nicest thing that ever, ever happened to me as a playwright...the sheer joy of the man holding his tummy and going, “Please stop it!” It was lovely. That was Black Comedy."The White Liars
Black Comedy is often performed with another Peter Shaffer one-act, The White Liars, to form the double-bill of The White Liars and Black Comedy. The two plays are published together.The White Liars was first performed in 1967 under the title White Lies, with the original Broadway production of Black Comedy. It was billed as a "curtain-raiser" to Black Comedy. Peter Shaffer retitled the play for subsequent productions.
The White Liars is shorter than Black Comedy. It concerns a down-on-her-luck fortune teller living in a decaying seaside resort, and the two young men—Tom, the lead singer in a rock band, and Frank, his business manager—who consult her. It is more serious fare than its farcical counterpart.
Original Production
Black Comedy was first presented at the Chichester Festival TheatreChichester Festival Theatre
Chichester Festival Theatre, located in Chichester, England, was designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, and opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin in 1962. Subsequently the smaller and more intimate Minerva Theatre was built nearby in 1989....
by the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
on July 27, 1965, and subsequently at The Old Vic Theatre, London, directed by John Dexter
John Dexter
John Dexter was an English theatre, opera, and film director.- Theatre :Born in Derby, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British army during World War II. Following the war, he began working as a stage actor before turning to producing and directing shows for...
with the following cast:
Brindsley Miller...Derek Jacobi
Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
Carol Melkett...Louise Purnell
Miss Furnival...Doris Hare
Doris Hare
Doris Hare MBE was a Welsh actress, best known for her appearances as "Mum" in the popular sitcom On the Buses alongside Reg Varney and Stephen Lewis....
Colonel Melkett...Graham Crowden
Graham Crowden
Clement Graham Crowden was a Scottish actor. He was best known for his many appearances in television comedy dramas and films, often playing eccentric 'offbeat' scientist, teacher and doctor characters.-Early life:...
Harold Gorringe...Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
Schuppanzigh...Paul Curran
Paul Curran
Paul Curran is an Irish Gaelic footballer who played his inter-county football for Dublin and he plays his club football for Thomas Davis. He is currently working with the Dublin Under-21 team as part of Jim Gavins backroom team.- Sporting Achievements:...
Clea...Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
Georg Bamberger...Michael Byrne
Michael Byrne (actor)
Michael Byrne is an English actor noted for his roles on film and television. He has often been cast in Nazi military roles such as Colonel Vogel in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik in the BBC radio dramatisation of the novel Fatherland by Robert Harris...
Original Broadway Production
Black Comedy was first presented in New York with White Lies at the Ethel Barrymore Theater by Alexander H. CohenAlexander H. Cohen
Alexander H. Cohen was a prolific American theatrical producer who mounted more than one hundred productions on both sides of the Atlantic. He was the only American producer to maintain offices in the West End as well as on Broadway.-Personal life:Cohen was born in New York City...
directed by John Dexter
John Dexter
John Dexter was an English theatre, opera, and film director.- Theatre :Born in Derby, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British army during World War II. Following the war, he began working as a stage actor before turning to producing and directing shows for...
with the following cast:
White Lies:
Sophie: Baroness Lemberg...Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
Frank...Donald Madden
Donald Madden
Donald Madden was an American theatre, television, and film actor best known for his role as John Dickinson in the film 1776 and his portrayal of Hamlet onstage in New York.-Life and career:...
Tom...Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
Black Comedy:
Brindsley Miller...Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford
Michael Crawford OBE is an English actor and singer. He has garnered great critical acclaim and won numerous awards during his career, which covers radio, television, film, and stagework on both London's West End and on Broadway in New York City...
Carol Melkett...Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Redgrave
Lynn Rachel Redgrave, OBE was an English actress.A member of the well-known British family of actors, Redgrave trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962...
Miss Furnival...Camila Ashland
Camila Ashland
Camila Ashland , is an actress, best known for her role as Minnie Du Val in the cult series Dark Shadows.Ashland also starred on the soap opera General Hospital as Alice Grant from 1976–1977, and in the 1983 hit NBC miniseries V and its 1984 sequel, V: The Final Battle where she played Resistance...
Colonel Melkett...Peter Bull
Peter Bull
Peter Cecil Bull, DSC was a British character actor.- Biography :He was the fourth and youngest son of Hammersmith MP Sir William James Bull, 1st Bt..Bull was educated at Winchester College...
Harold Gorringe...Donald Madden
Donald Madden
Donald Madden was an American theatre, television, and film actor best known for his role as John Dickinson in the film 1776 and his portrayal of Hamlet onstage in New York.-Life and career:...
Schuppanzigh...Pierre Epstein
Clea...Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Sue Page was an American actress. Although she starred in at least two dozen feature films, she is primarily known for her celebrated work in the American theater...
Georg Bamberger...Michael Miller
Michael Miller
- Entertainment :*Mike Miller , American guitarist*Mike S. Miller , comic artist and publisher*Mickey Miller, fictional character on the United Kingdom television series EastEnders, commonly known as Mike Miller...
The production featured the Broadway debut of both Michael Crawford and Lynn Redgrave.
The production previewed from January 31, 1967 and opened on February 12, 1967. It closed on December 2, 1967 after a total of 14 previews and 337 performances.
1967 Awards and Nominations
The original Broadway production of Black Comedy was nominated for five Tony AwardTony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
s:
- Best PlayTony Award for Best PlayThe Tony Award for Best Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theatre, including musical theatre, honoring productions on Broadway in New York. It currently takes place in mid-June each year.There was no award in the Tony's first year...
- Best Actor in a PlayTony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a PlayThe Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play presented since 1947, is awarded to actors in productions of new or revival plays.-1940s:*1947 - José Ferrer – Cyrano de Bergerac / Fredric March – Years Ago...
(Donald Madden) - Best Featured Actress in a PlayTony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a PlayThis is a list of winners and nomination of the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress. The award was first presented in 1947.-1940s:* 1947: Patricia Neal – Another Part of the Forest* 1949: Shirley Booth – Goodbye, My Fancy-1950s:...
(Camila Ashland) - Best Direction of a PlayTony Award for Best Direction of a PlayThe Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: Dramatic and Musical. In 1976 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play...
(John Dexter) - Best Scenic Design (Alan Tagg)
In addition, Jordan Christopher, Michael Crawford's replacement, won the Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for his portrayal of Brindsley.
1968 London Production
Black Comedy and White Lies, retitled The White Liars, were presented at the Lyric Theatre, London under the title The White Liars and Black Comedy on February 1, 1968 directed by Peter Wood with the following cast:The White Liars:
Sophie, Baroness Lemberg...Dorothy Reynolds
Frank...James Bolam
James Bolam
James Christopher Bolam, MBE is a British actor, best known for his roles as Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In, Trevor Chaplin in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, Terry Collier in The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh, Dr Arthur Gilder in...
Tom...Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
Black Comedy:
Brindsley Miller...James Bolam
James Bolam
James Christopher Bolam, MBE is a British actor, best known for his roles as Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In, Trevor Chaplin in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, Terry Collier in The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh, Dr Arthur Gilder in...
Carol Melkett...Angela Scoular
Angela Scoular
Angela Margaret Scoular was an English actress.-Early life:Her father was an engineer and she was born in London. She attended St.George's School, Harpenden, Queen's College, Harley Street and RADA.-Career:...
Miss Furnival...Dorothy Reynolds
Colonel Melkett...Robert Flemying
Harold Gorringe...Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen
Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...
Schuppanzigh...Ken Wynne
Clea...Liz Fraser
Liz Fraser
Liz Fraser is an English actress, mainly in comedy roles.- Life and career :Her birthdate is usually attributed as 1933, the year she gave when auditioning for her role in I'm All Right Jack, as the Boulting Brothers wanted someone younger for the part...
Georg Bamburger...Christopher Fagan
White Lies was rewritten extensively by Peter Shaffer for this production and retitled The White Liars.
1976 London Revival
Black Comedy was revived with The White Liars under the title White Liars & Black Comedy at the Shaw TheatreShaw Theatre
The Shaw Theatre is a theatre in Somers Town, in the London Borough of Camden. It is located near the Euston Road, beside the British Library and St Pancras Chambers , equidistant from King's Cross station and Euston station....
by the Dolphin Company in July 1976 directed by Paul Giovanni
Paul Giovanni
Paul Giovanni was an American playwright, actor, director, singer and musician. New Yorker Giovanni is best known for writing the music for the 1973 British horror film The Wicker Man...
.
The production featured Timothy Dalton as Harold Gorringe and Tom.
The White Liars was rewritten by Peter Shaffer for this production.
1993 Broadway Revival
White Liars & Black Comedy was revived at Criterion Center Stage Right by The Roundabout Theatre CompanyRoundabout Theatre Company
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in New York City.-History:The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist and Elizabeth Owens and now operates five theatres, all in Manhattan: the American Airlines Theatre ; Studio 54 ; the Stephen Sondheim Theatre The...
directed by Gerald Gutierrez
Gerald Gutierrez
Gerald Gutierrez was an American Tony Award-winning stage- and film director.-External links:...
with the following cast:
White Liars:
Sophie: Baroness Lemberg...Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
Frank...Peter MacNicol
Peter MacNicol
Peter MacNicol is an American actor. He may be best known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, Thomas Renfield in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and David Langley in Bean...
Tom...David Aaron Baker
Black Comedy:
Brindsley Miller...Peter MacNicol
Peter MacNicol
Peter MacNicol is an American actor. He may be best known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, Thomas Renfield in Dracula: Dead and Loving It and David Langley in Bean...
Carol Melkett...Anne Bobby
Miss Furnival...Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
Colonel Melkett...Keene Curtis
Keene Curtis
Keene Holbrook Curtis was an American character actor.-Film career:Curtis made his film debut in the 1948 Orson Welles adaptation of Macbeth...
Harold Gorringe...Brian Murray
Brian Murray
Brian Murray is a South African actor and theatre director. He was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 2004....
Schuppanzigh...Robert Stattel
Clea...Kate Mulgrew
Kate Mulgrew
Katherine Kiernan Maria "Kate" Mulgrew is an American actress, most noted for her roles on Star Trek: Voyager as Captain Kathryn Janeway and Ryan's Hope as Mary Ryan...
Georg Bamberger...Ray Xifo
Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand
Nancy Marchand was an American actress, whose career encompassed both stage and screen. She appeared in various theatre productions throughout the early 1950s, before being offered roles on film and television....
was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.-1940s:...
for her performance as Miss Furnival.
Both Black Comedy and The White Liars were rewritten by Peter Shaffer for this production.
The production previewed from August 10, 1993 and opened on September 1, 1993. It closed on October 3, 1993 after a total of 25 previews and 38 performances.
1998 London Revival
Black Comedy was revived as a double-bill with Tom StoppardTom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's The Real Inspector Hound
The Real Inspector Hound
The Real Inspector Hound is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit...
at the Comedy Theatre by Warehouse Productions on April 22, 1998 directed by Greg Doran with the following cast:
Brindsley Miller...David Tennant
David Tennant
David Tennant is a Scottish actor. In addition to his work in theatre, including a widely praised Hamlet, Tennant is best known for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who, along with the title role in the 2005 TV serial Casanova and as Barty Crouch, Jr...
Carol Melkett...Anna Chancellor
Anna Chancellor
-Family:Chancellor was born in Richmond, London, England, the daughter of the Hon. Mary Alice Jolliffe and John Paget Chancellor. Through her mother's mother, Lady Perdita Rose Mary Asquith, Chancellor is the great-granddaughter of The Hon. Raymond Aquith and the great-great-granddaughter of Prime...
Miss Furnival...Nichola McAuliffe
Nichola McAuliffe
Nichola McAuliffe is an English television and stage actress and writer, best known for her role as Sheila Sabatini in the sitcom Surgical Spirit.-Background:McAuliffe was born in 1955 in Surrey, England...
Colonel Melkett...Gary Waldhorn
Gary Waldhorn
Gary Waldhorn is a veteran English actor, known for his role as David Horton in the sitcom The Vicar of Dibley, but who has also had a notable television and theatre career.-Theatre:...
Harold Gorringe...Desmond Barritt
Schuppanzigh...Geoffrey Freshwater
Geoffrey Freshwater
Geoffrey Freshwater is an English actor. His television appearances include The Government Inspector and the recurring character of Sgt Eric Rivers in 5 episodes of Foyle's War, and he is also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, appearing in their 2007-08 This England cycle of Shakespeare's...
Clea...Amanda Harris
Georg Bamberger...Joseph Millson
Joseph Millson
Joseph Millson is an English actor and singer. He trained at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Sidcup.-Theatre:* The Lifted Veil at the National * Pillars of the Community at the National...
Peter Shaffer rewrote Black Comedy for this production.
Film Adaptation
In 1970, Peter Shaffer's twin brother, Anthony Shaffer, had adapted Black Comedy into a screenplay, announcing that it would be his next project, but the film was not produced.External links
- Black Comedy at Samuel French, Inc.
- Black Comedy at the National Theatre Archives
- Photos of the original Broadway production at Lynn Redgrave's official website
- The 1968 London production of The White Liars and Black Comedy at Ian McKellen's official website
- The 1993 Broadway production of Black Comedy at Kate Mulgrew's official website
- A scan of the 1998 programme for The Real Inspector Hound and Black Comedy