Black Comedy

1/5 stars
Event review by Edward Whelan.
Published 27 August 2009

This is not a good production. The set was adequate and the direction was unobtrusive (although one actor was left facing the wall for five minutes, as if captured by the Blair Witch), but the farcical comedy becomes tedious as the actors trudge through their lines with little genuine expression.

Much of the play rests on the physical comedy as the characters stumble around their apartment during a black out - when their apartment is in darkness, the stage lights are on so the audience can see them feeling around blindly. All the actors, but particularly Lewis Tuffnell, throw themselves into the elaborate mime, and clearly a lot of hard work has gone into it. Unfortunately, the result is slow and unfunny and the great humour of the play is almost entirely flattened.

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  • Well either this is not your 'cup of tea' or you caught them on a bad night, because I took my family along to see this on Wednesday and the whole audience found it fantasically funny. It may also be good to point out that after reading their program they put the whole performance (including set) together in two weeks while also running every aspect the company which we imagined to be a tall order in itself for a young group to do.

    Obviously everyone is entitled to their opinion but we thoroughly enjoyed the performance and would recommended it to anyone who wants a little light hearted entertainment.

    Posted by Alan Birtles | Thursday August 2009 @ 18:01

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  • Firstly Thanks Alan for your comment.

    Now Edward I firstly thank you for taking the time for coming and watching our performance. However I would like to point out that the night you attended was the worst night. It was clear that all of the other nights ran well and were certainly not 'slow and unfunny'. I would like to quote another review we recieved from the Monday night;

    'A first time at the fringe for this talented young company from Grimsby. The students of Havelock Academy run every aspect of the theatre company themselves and have pulled out all the stops for this their first fringe production.

    Its “Carry on” in the dark and a right carry on it is too. A young sculptor gets himself into a right pickle by pretending to be what he is not and all in the context of a black out caused by a faulty fuse box. And if you are wondering how the audience can see what is going on while the actors grope about on a pitch black stage then go see for yourself. It is all done by the magic of theatre. This is vintage farce in the tradition of Brian Rix and Sid James. There’s slapstick double entendres and even a camp antiques collector.

    And the moral of this tale? Well there is one but you have to grope about in the dark a bit in order to find it.'

    This was our first performance at the Fringe and our second as a company. We have already set to work on our next piece and if you would like to recieve a ticket to come and watch email me at lewistuffnell@havelockacademy.co.uk althrough this time you might have to fork out around £4 pound for the ticket.

    My love
    Lewis

    Posted by Lewis Tuffnell | Monday September 2009 @ 11:32

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