On October 8th, I saw the play Black Comedy. I’ve only seen a few plays before, so perhaps my review doesn’t carry the weight of some avuncular critic with a monocle and a cane, but here it is anyway.
The play was at the Stanley Theatre and was preceded by a shorter play, Chekhov’s “The Marriage Proposal”. This was entertaining by itself, with Sasa Brown and Jeff Meadows portraying the mad Russian peasants quite accurately.
Then came Black Comedy. It’s about a down-and-out artist who seeks to impress his fiancee’s father by stealing his neghbour’s furniture for the duration of the prospective father-in-law’s visit. This coincides with a visit of one of the richest men alive, a German named Bamberger who has taken a keen interest in the impoverished sculptor’s work. And of course, the lights go out a little before everyone gets there, leaving the hapless soon-to-be newlyweds fumbling in the dark.
The play is hysterically funny in parts, and will leave you rolling in the aisles at the end. The superb acting is both helped along and dimmed by a heavy use of stereotypes: a crusty English colonel with a toothbrush moustache and monocle who promises to thrash the jilting suitor, a man who’s not openly gay but talks with a lisp and smacks the protagonist’s buttocks in the dark at every chance he gets, the secretly alcoholic old lady who thinks the upper classes are a breed apart, the ex-girlfriend who’s a sex bomb and so on.
The play is excellently choreographed, with movements that realistically simulate haphazard fumblings in the dark. The plot twists and turns just enough to not get stale and leaves you wanting more.
In conclusion, both the plays were very enjoyable, with superlative acting. I would definitely recommend seeing them. 4.5 stars out of 5.