Black Comedy

by Peter Shaffer

Lovesick and desperate, sculptor Brindsley Miller has embellished his apartment with furniture and objects d’arte “borrowed” from the absent antique collector next-door, hoping to impress his fiancée’s pompous father and a wealthy art dealer. The fussy neighbour, Harold Gorringe, returns just as a blown fuse plunges the apartment into darkness and Brindsley is revealed.
Unexpected guests, ageing spinsters, errant phone cords, and other snares impede his frantic attempts to return the purloined items before light is restored.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Comedy, Drama, Fiction, Humor, Read For School

90 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Sir Peter Levin Shaffer was an English dramatist, author of numerous award-winning plays, several of which have been filmed.

See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Sh...

Reviews

[Bionic Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Schaffer's Black Comedy is a classic farce from 1965, in the tradition of the Marx brothers. In a way it is a one-joke play, where the joke is indefinitely prolonged and becomes more absurd every moment.

The initial premise on which all this hangs, is that pitch darkness to the characters is equivalent to brilliant illumination to the audience. This inspired device by Peter Shaffer is topped off by the clincher, that this could not have happened at a worse moment for the main character, Brindsley.

The play begins with the main character, Brindsley, hovering in his apartment in South Kensington, London, at 9.30pm on a Sunday evening. He has a roomful of sculpture waiting to be viewed, and hopefully purchased, by a millionaire (who turns out to be deaf). At that point the lights fuse.

Brindsley also has a fiancée who needs to be kept sweet, and a prospective military martinet of a father to be impressed. In order to impress the millionaire still further, expensive antique furniture has been borrowed from the flat across the hall, without the knowledge of its fanatically possessive owner. More and more difficulties present themselves to be juggled on the return of said owner. Brindsley has a vain hope that the furniture may be returned before the neighbour catches on, and also that his fiancée may be kept in the dark (excuse the pun!) about what is really happening. The arrival in the darkness of several further unexpected visitors completely wrecks the characters' evening - and provides much entertainment for the audience.

This is a play which it is essential to see as a live production, because of the basic premise. It simply will not work on the page, or on radio. Also the actors need to be topnotch, as timing is key. The first production I saw of this play was lively and full of fun. The main part of Brindsley was played by a very determinedly upbeat and chirpy Peter Machin, his debutante-ish girlfriend Carol Melkett was played by Gemma Craven, her military father by Neil McCarthy, and the camp neighbour Mr. Gorringe was played unexpectedly by Timothy Dalton. There were also four other minor roles, as further unexpected guests kept arriving, including Clea, who was played by Celia Bannerman.

The play is necessarily quite short, to be able to sustain the illusion, and is often paired in production with another play by Peter Shaffer, "White Liars".

[Astraea · Rating 5 out of 5]

اين نمايشنامه داستان «برندسلی میلر» و نامزدش «کارول ملکت» است. آنها خود را برای یک مهمانی آماده می‌کنند. قرار است «جورج بمبرگ» یک کلکسیونر و میلیونر معروف برای خرید کارهای برندسلی و «کلنل ملکت» پدر کارول برای دیدن وضعیت زندگی برندسلی به خانه آنها بیایند. این دو برای تحت تاثیر قرار دادن پدر کارول وسایل قيمتي «هارولد گورینج» همسایه برندسلی را که بسیار هم نسبت به وسایل خود حساس است، دزدیده‌اند. این اثر از زبان هشت شخصیت روايت مي‌شود.همون شب برق میره.هارولد از سفر به صورت غیر مترقبه برمیگرده و دوست دختر قبلی برنی هم به نام کلی کمیاد.توی تاریکی همه همدیگه رو اشتباه میگیرن و اوضاع بامزه و طنزی پیش میاد.تاجر میلیونر هم وقتی میاد میفته توی زیر زمین و برنی هم همه مخفی کاریاش لو میره

[آروین ملک · Rating 5 out of 5]

پیتر شفر رو با "اکوئوس" شناختم، با "آمادئوس" شیفته ش شدم و با "کمدی سیاه" تقریبا از اینکه قبل از مرگش نتونستم ببینمش خیلی به خودم لعنت فرستادم! 😅
کمدی سیاه، داستان یک مجسمه ساز فقیره که منتظر یه میلیونره تا بیاد و کارهای هنری اون رو ببینه و قیمت گذاری کنه، ولی حوادث مضحکی اتفاق میفتن که موجب آزردگی مجسمه ساز میشن.
کمدی سیاه یه کمدی سیاه (همونطوری که نامگذاری شده) و یه "فارس" مدرنه. اگه از آثار سنه کا چیزی خونده باشین، درگیری بین شخصیت های متن، کاملا شما رو یاد سنه کا می‌ندازه. من که از خوندنش لذت بردم.
روح خالق این متن زیبا در آرامش. هرچند معتقدم هنرمندان هرگز نمی‌میرند. 🙏

[Payam Ebrahimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

یک کمدی شُسته‌رفته و جذاب با ریتم خوب و پایان عالی
هرچند موقعیت شگفت‌انگیز یا اتفاق خیلی خاص و ویژه‌ای نداشت و همه‌چی قابل پیش‌بینی بود
نسخه‌ی فارسی نشر افراز -مثل خیلی از کتاب‌های دیگه‌شون- غلط‌های نگارشی و ویرایشی بسیاری داشت که نمی‌ذاشت اون‌طور که باید از کتاب لذت ببرم.

[Elizabeth Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m the lighting designer for SUU Second Studio’s production of this play this year!
Things pick up a lot in the second half where at times things felt slow in the first half. Really clever and funny visual comedy, even more exciting because I get to design for it.
(PG-13 rating)

[Cameron Stuart · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like Neil Simon and the sheer ridiculousness of British class divide, this presents a great read for you. Reading this after reading "Equus" many times over whilst working on the portraying the character of Alan Strang, the extent of Shaffer's spectrum of ability, wit and guile are recognized. There's also a funny German and plenty of slapstick staples, who wouldn't!

[Karen Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed playing Miss Furnival... a fantastic play.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful farce is a literal and figurative manifestation of its title: on a completely darkened stage, characters speak normally to one another; a few minutes in, when the stage is suddenly illuminated, the characters look around in wide-eyed panic… because a fuse has blown and “the lights have gone out.” Shaffer brilliantly wrings every bit from this novel premise and, perhaps most enjoyably, doesn’t even try for a happy ending. An entertaining read that must be all the more delirious on stage.

[Whitney Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hysterical.

That's the thing with comedy though, everyone has a different sense of humour. I found this to be an exceptional story with just the right amount of sass and crass one-liners. I thought the concept of reverse lighting was interesting too!


I also recently a university production of this and it was flawless.

[Jacqueline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Твърдо не.

Нямаше грам хумор, стил или оригиналност в пиесата. "Една от най-добрите през последните десетилетия"?! Пълна лъжа. Е, масовата бг публика се заливаше от смях - категоричен знак (в 99% от случаите), че няма да се забавлявам.
(* оставям вратичка, че е възможно текстът да има различен ефект, поставен на лондонска сцена)

Булеварден театър. Не препоръчвам.

[Katelen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing comedy! The structure of it is amazing and it really helps the jokes - its my favorite part when reading it. It is a bit dated but I'm so used to doing old plays that this feels modern, but I do know that it has a lot in common with many other plays. It feels very inspired by Neil Simon so if you're a fan then there's a good chance you would like this.

[Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this in high school, it was junior year.

I thought it was a decent play, the idea and staging are quite interesting.

I thought the chemistry between the characters could of been better.
especially between the minor characters.

But all in all it was ok

[Sophie · Rating 4 out of 5]

sexipoo

[Izzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of this play is brilliant. Also the happenings in this play are completely absurd but seem so normal.

[Misti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had its funny moments, but the ending was a bit strange.

[Geert Taghon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toneelstuk met Iever en Eendracht
Geert = Stephane

[Giusy Cirillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Original play to watch! The reversed lighting scheme is genial!

[Belu Spizzi · Rating 5 out of 5]

♾️/5 ⭐️

I read this book because I played Carol in an amateur version of the play this year.

It was fun from the very start and even laughed out loud at the first play reading.

This story, these characters will always have a deep place in my heart. It was an amazing challenge to take and, of course, one to remember for life. (More than proud of my "happy-bruises")

And for those who think Carol is stupid... She's not, she's just naive, ok?? It's not that she doesn't have the brain cells. She'd never had to use them... until now!

I love Black Comedy with all my heart and soul! 💕

[Ian Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious play that relies very heavily on physical comedy and superb timing. It also ends at exactly the right point, leaving us - as with all great comedies - at a climax rather than a conclusion. My problem was that I really did want to know how Brindsley was going to get out of it.

[Charlie Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great idea for a farce. You're always in good hands with Peter Shaffer. Surprised he was able to adapt to farce so well when I've previously only read his more serious works. Amadeus is obviously the better play in a technical sense, but this was a lot more fun.

[Ваня Г.]

Превод от английски
Петър Кауков, 2008

[Benji Kershenbaum · Rating 4 out of 5]

The light is blinding, and all gets revealed in the darkness.

What a fun play to read, but I get the sense that, really, it must be seen (or I suppose I should say at times heard).

[Dan Blackley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very funny play that happens in a blackout.

[Olivia Kenyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

funny

[Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man only wrote bangers, huh?

[Hanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hysterical and lighthearted drawing room play! An excellent read aloud with friends!

[Alif · Rating 5 out of 5]

this was really good. i enjoyed it so much and laughed out loud so many times while reading it. the ending was rushed though. i would’ve liked it to be a little longer.

[amihihi :) · Rating 4 out of 5]

🤌🏾

[Viktoria Chipova · Rating 2 out of 5]

1/5 ⭐️
Black Comedy – Peter Shaffer

Unfortunately, this play just didn’t land for me. The concept — where the characters are “in the dark” while the stage is lit — is clever in theory, but in execution, it felt forced and gimmicky. The humor didn’t resonate with me; most of the jokes felt dated, and the farcical elements leaned too much on slapstick rather than wit or substance.

The characters were flat and exaggerated, lacking depth or development. I found it hard to care about the chaotic situations or their outcomes.

While I appreciate Shaffer’s creativity and willingness to play with theatrical form, this particular piece felt more like a technical experiment than a meaningful or engaging story.

In summary:
Interesting premise, but the humor and characters didn’t work for me. A disappointing read. 1/5.

[Gene Heinrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved reading this little gem of a one act play! The whole concept is what pulled me in - light means darkness, darkness means light. Could very well be the next play I direct. Yeah, loved it that much.