INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / MARCH 5, 1991

 

Farce of a Different Colour

Where were you, in the social
scheme of things, when the lights
went out?

{Mas $ che question pressing
sculptor Brindsley Miller in Peter
Shatfer’s Black Comedy (which
isn’t really a black comedy at all),
which opens March 15 at Douglas
College. The sly title, typical of
the mental gymnastics in this farce
set in swingin’ 1965 London, refers
to a major power failure during
the play.

“It’s like a farce by Chaplin,”
says director Drew Young. “The
plot is simple but the situation be-
comes very complicated and
ridiculous.”

As events open, the young art-
ist and his upper-class fiance,
Carol, are at home anxiously await-
ing a wealthy buyer who could
guarantee Miller’s future. Soon,
Carol convinces Brindsley to make
his apartment upscale by smug-
vling over furniture belonging to
the homosexual across the hall;
soon, unexpected people begin to
turn up; soon, the lights go out.
Confusion, with a smattering of so-
cial commentary, reigns.

Young says the 1960s’ setting
and blackout are major com-

ponents of staging the play.

“The students love it because
the costumes seem so ridiculous
now and I think the setting is one
of the reasons I chose the play,”
says Young. “We have the begin-
ning of free love or free expression
and of supposedly accepting one
another for what we are. It’s inter-
esting to look back at that.”

To stage the lengthy power
failure, a reversal trick is used: the
darker the blackout, the brighter
the set lights.

But the darkness is also reveal-
ing at other levels. Shaffer, the
writer who created the horse-blind-
ing youth in “Equus” and the
manic Mozart of “ Amadeus”, un-
veils disturbing sides of characters
not usually exposed ina farce.
Which brings us back to that title
again.

“Black Comedy is just a play
on words, although there is a black
component to this play,” says
Young. “The darkness offers a
situation where characters can
reveal themselves because they
can’t see each other. In these cir-
cumstances, Brindsley and all the
people around him ritualistically
get stripped down and we get to

 

 

Chili Concourse Carne Contest
Thursday, March 21, 1991 - 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

This contest is open to any individual or group. Each entrant is
required to supply a crock pot of chili(we provide table space and
outlets) to be judged by the public. Tickets will be sold for sample
2 oz cups of chili, each sampler will evaluate the chili(s) they
taste. Prizes will be awarded to the winner(s) of the contest

For more information and to register call the
Foundation Office at Local 5360

 

 

see the core of what makes them
tick.”

Young says staying true to the
broad comedy of farce, despite the
characters descending into moral
ugliness, offers the production’s
trickiest challenge.

“The danger, of course, is that
violence, hate, racism, which are
all dealt with to some extent, can
really effect an audience. I don’t
know if you can recover from that
in a farce if it goes too deep. It’sa
dangerous thing to do.”

Black Comedy runs March 15-
16, 19-23 at 8 pm and March 17
and 23 at 2 pmat the college’s Per-
formance Theatre. For tickets, call
527-5488.

 

 

March 15, 16, 19-23 8 pm.
March 17& 23 2 pm.
Douglas College Performing
Arts Theatre, 700 Royal Ave.
New Wesminster.

S9 Adults, $5 Students&Seniors
Call 527 - 5488 for tickets
and information.

a

douglas
collége