Light is dark and dark is light in Biack Comedy, a one-act play by the English playwright Peter Shaffer. To the usual fare of comedy-- unexpected guests, disguises, and mistaken identities Shaffer has added another twist, a technical inversion borrowed from traditional Chinese theatre.

The curtain opens on a dark stage, and two voices are heard discussing the expected arrival of Colonel Melkett, who is coming. to meet his future son-in-law, and Mr. Bamberger, an art collector, who is coming to see the sculpture of a young artist. An electrical failure plunges the stage into--light--and we see the artist and his fiancee. The technical inversion is kept
throughout the play. Whenever a lighter is lit, matches are
struck, or a flashlight turned on, the stage lights dim. When
they are put out, the stage brightens.

Colonel Melkett stumbles into the darkness and, to add to the confusion, so do three unexpected guests: Miss Furnival from upstairs, who is afraid of the dark; Harold Gorringe from the apartment across the hall, who is supposed to be out of town and whose furniture has been borrowed for the evening; and Clea the artist's former mistress, who is supposed.to be in Finland, Clea who can't resist the opportunity to taunt the artist disguises her voice and becomes Mrs. Punnet, the cleaning lady. Schuppanzigh, the repairman from the Electric Company, is mistaken for the art collector, and Bamberger, the art collector, when he does arrive, gets a warmer welcome than any of them expected.
The play ends as a comedy should end: the artist is enlightened,
order is restored, and, in the final inversion, the stage is
plunged into darkness. Black Comedy is an experiment in theatre
that is light- hearted and entertaining.


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