Theatre Review
|
BLACK COMEDY
Hannah Thorpe has made a solid choice in Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy - brimming with wit, caricature and a splendid theatrical conceit it cannot (and does not) fail to amuse. The action is set in the flat of young 60's conceptual artist Brindsley Miller (David Opperman) on the night when a famous German millionaire (Georg Von-Kalcreuth) is visiting to view his work, and he is to meet his prospective father-in-law (Tim Youker). Also present that evening are Brindsley's fiancée and dippy debutante Carol Melkett (Rachel Parris), his dotty neighbour Miss Furnival (Lily Sykes), Harold Gorringe - another neighbour, from whom he has 'borrowed' a few items for the evening (James Bounds) and an electrician (Greg Coulter). Opperman radiates nervous energy as our tragic-comedic hero, constantly struggling with white lies and chaise-longues, driving the action forward throughout. Parris sparkles as the brainless blonde girlfriend, who eventually calls on Daddy to clobber her wayward man. Lily Sykes produces a consistently amusing performance as Brindsley's abstentious spinster neighbour who comes alive when the lights go out - as indeed they do throughout the play - Shaffer dictates that when the characters can see, we the audience are blind to the action and vice versa; this means for much of the show the characters can only grope their way around the set, and the cast manage this with varying levels of conviction. Liz Thonemann is entrancing as the prodigal girlfriend who arrives mid-action to cause chaos and provide the final twists and turns of the plot. Its climax, however, might have benefited from a little more pace from all involved. Only 75 minutes long, this early work from one of our greatest 20th Century playwrights is well worth seeing for the first time, but might fail to titillate those already familiar with the play.
James Dare
|