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Black Comedy (Acting Edition) (Paperback)

by Peter Shaffer (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

RRP:	�4.75
Price:	�4.35 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Product details

Paperback: 75 pages
Publisher: Samuel French Ltd (1967)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0573023034
ISBN-13: 978-0573023033
Product Dimensions: 20.8 x 13.4 x 0.8 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 135,535 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in this category:
#36 in Books > Poetry, Drama & Criticism > Drama > Genres > Comedies

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	89% buy the item featured on this page: Black Comedy (Acting Edition) 5.0 out of 5 stars (4) �4.35
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews

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5.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Peter Shaffer in fine comic form., 23 Jan 2003

By	Matthew Lacey "matthewlacey" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One of the finest modern farces written, 'Black Comedy' exists in a strange world of the opposite. Set in a struggling artist's studio, Brindsley Miller (the artist) and his debutante girlfriend Carol plan to impress German billionaire philanthropist Georg Bamberger into buying some of Brindsley's work. In so doing they also hope to impress Carol's truculent and "psychologically disturbed" father, Colonel Melkett.
Unfortunately before either's arrival a power-cut plunges the whole apartment block into darkness, or it would do were it not for Shaffer's central conceit: the lighting is reversed throughout. So, the play opens in darkness and following the power-cut the lights come on full (dipping whenever a match or torch is brought). This enables a clear view for the audience of a group of people frantically stumbling around, feeling the furniture, the walls and even eachother.
Mistakes ensue, not least the glorious mix-up over teetotal upstairs neighbour Miss Furnival and a glass of gin (followed by another, and another...) and the increasingly frantic efforts of Brindsley to conceal the furniture he has stolen to smarten up his studio whilst attempting to reassure the Colonel of his mental state. This furniture belongs to another beautifully observed comic caricature, Harold Gorringe, an outrageously camp, Lancastrian antique dealer. Needless to say, the unheralded arrival of Brindsley's jilted girlfriend and a German electrician do little to improve matters.
Though brief, this play packs more than enough laughs into 45 minutes to leave any audience satisfied and is a suitably balanced work in terms of lines to recommend itself to any acting company or even school production. Physically very demanding, but all the more worth it for that, and still packed with Shaffer's gift for painstakingly well observed wordplay along with more farcical physical elements makes 'Black Comedy' a thoroughly enjoyable play both to watch and perform.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud funny, 10 Aug 2003

By	Carla Dee (London United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This has to be one of the funniest pieces of literature I have ever read. The set-up is so ridiculous and the characters so excessive that you cannot help but laugh out loud at the fiasco that ensues when there is a power cut on a very important evening of a young artist’s life. I love how Shaffer has created a situation which gets increasingly out of hand as the evening progresses, and has all of this take place in complete darkness (which you would have to imagine were you to see it on stage because the darkness is actually replaced with light!). Very clever, very funny. Highly recommended.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, 15 Oct 2004

By A Customer

Having played Brindsley in this piece I have become aware of its comic brilliance. Simply the only time I have felt absolutely confident of a piece of comedy whilst on stage because you always know that the piece is funny enough to carry itself through. Well worth the money for a copy and I would also recommend buying Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound to go with it. The two are normally played together and both are extremelly funny. Enjoy them!

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An actors view
I acted in a production of Black Comedy not too long ago (as Brindsley) and I have to say that no finer farce exists within the last fifty years. Read more

Published on 20 Jul 2004 by J. Birchell

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