Black Comedy (play)


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.
Brindsley Miller, a young sculptor, and his debutante fiancée Carol Melkett have borrowed some expensive, antique furniture from his neighbour 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.

Synopsis

The play begins in complete darkness.
Brindsley Miller, a young sculptor, and his debutante fiancée, Carol Melkett, have stolen some very expensive antiques from his neighbor Harold Gorringe, who is away for the weekend, to spruce up his normally slum-like apartment in order to impress Carol's father and a wealthy prospective buyer named Georg Bamberger. Before the guests arrive, a fuse in the cellar short-circuits causing a blackout. The stage is instantly illuminated.
As Brindsley and Carol search for matches, the phone rings and Brindsley answers. It is his previous mistress Clea, who has just returned from Finland. Brindsley hurriedly distracts Carol, and refuses to see Clea.
Miss Furnival, the occupant of the flat upstairs, enters seeking refuge from her fear of the dark. Miss Furnival is a spinster and lifelong teetotaler. They ring the London Electricity Board, but are told only that an electrician might arrive sometime later that night.
When Carol's father, Colonel Melkett, arrives he takes an almost instant dislike to Brindsley, and is unimpressed with one of his sculptures—a large work in iron with two prongs.
Harold Gorringe returns from his weekend early. Brindsley quickly pulls Harold into the flat so that he will not go into his own and discover the thievery. In the dark, Harold does not realize that the room is full of his own things. As Carol blindly mixes everyone drinks, Brindsley attempts to restore as much of the stolen furniture to Harold's flat as possible.
There is a mix-up as Carol hands out the drinks in the dark, and Miss Furnival is given liquor by mistake. She is hooked after her first taste, and stealthily procures more. Harold discovers Brindsley and Carol's engagement, and is furious at the news. It is obvious that he himself has secret feelings for Brindsley.
Clea enters unannounced. In the confusion, Brindsley catches hold of her 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.
The electrician, a German named Schuppanzigh, arrives to mend the fuse, and everyone excitedly mistakes him for Bamberger. The electrician, with his lit torch, catches sight of the sculpture, and is extremely impressed. Schuppanzigh, who was highly educated in art at Heidelberg, praises Brindsley's work with great eloquence. Just as the statue seems on the verge of being sold for five hundred guineas, they realize who he really is. The group turns on him in indignation, and Schuppanzigh is cast down to the cellar to mend the fuse.
Clea emerges from the loft, and discovers Brindsley's engagement. Outraged, she dashes Vodka over the startled guests. When Clea reveals herself, Carol is horrified. But her hysterics are interrupted by Miss Furnival who, completely inebriated and lost in a world of her own fears, erupts into a drunken tirade, ranting on the terrors of the modern supermarket, calling to her dead father, and prophesying a judgement day when "the heathens in their leather jackets" will be "stricken from their motorcycles." She is led out by a consoling Harold. Carol breaks off the engagement and the Colonel is livid.
When Harold discovers the state of his room, he returns to Brindsley's flat mad with fury. He pulls one of the metal prongs out of the statue, and advances on him. The Colonel follows suit, pulling out the other prong, and together they advance on the terrified sculptor.
Now, finally, Georg Bamberger arrives. This time, the guests mistake the millionaire for the electrician, until Schuppanzigh emerges from the cellar, and declares 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. As Harold, Colonel Melkett, and Carol advance on Brindsley and Clea, Schuppanzigh turns on the lights with a great flourish. There is instant darkness.

Development

In the early spring of 1965, National Theatre 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.

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 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.

Production history

Original production

Black Comedy was first presented at the Chichester Festival Theatre 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

Original Broadway production

Black Comedy was first presented in New York with White Lies at the Ethel Barrymore Theater by Alexander H. Cohen 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.

1967 awards and nominations

The original Broadway production of Black Comedy was nominated for five Tony Awards:
In addition, Jordan Christopher, Michael Crawford's replacement, won the Theatre World Award 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
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 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 Theatre 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 Shaffer for this production.

1993 Broadway revival

White Liars & Black Comedy was revived at Criterion Center Stage Right by The Roundabout Theatre Company 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.

1998 London revival

Black Comedy was revived as a double-bill with Tom Stoppard'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 Barrit
Schuppanzigh...Geoffrey Freshwater
Clea...Amanda Harris
Georg Bamberger...Joseph Millson
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.

Licensing

The performance rights for Black Comedy are controlled by Samuel French, Inc.