The APA play “Black Comedy,” written by Peter Shaffer, was performed from September 7 to September 10. After a ten-year hiatus, the acting department is presenting the play again at Huntington Beach Highschool. This time Oiler alumni Mr. Jacob Menke, who was an actor in the 2013 play, was chosen to direct the 2023 play. Although this is a classic comedy piece, the play still holds a lot of personal significance to the people involved.
“I went here as a highschooler so that was my first show that I acted in as a student, so it has a special place in my heart in that sense. I think the script is super fun, and I had all these fond memories, so I was really excited to bring it back for the ten-year anniversary of it. It was also the ten-year anniversary of the dinner theaters in general. As my first year as an official teacher, I wanted to bring it back and have like a moment of a kind of homecoming I guess with the show, ” said Menke.
As the name suggests it’s a comedy piece that not only has a lot of dark humor, but is also partly performed in the dark. Due to a power outage, the main character Brinsley Miller, and his soon-to-be wife, Carol Melkett, find themselves in a more than inconvenient situation. Waiting for an important art critic who might help Brinsley get his big artistic breakthrough, a power surge is the last thing they needed. Without any light source in sight, there was not much they can do except wait for an electrician. When the electrician gets mistaken for the art critic and a lot of guests unexpectedly show up, including Brinsley’s soon-to-be father-in-law, -Colonel Melkett,- and Brisnley Miller’s former girlfriend, the situation gets even more complicated. The power outage spirals into a chaotic black comedy.
“It was definitely the silliest play I’ve done in APA. Performing it was insane, so exhausting but the most fun ever,“ said Tegenn Jeffery, who played Colonel Melkett. Audience members described it as unique as it is funny, the play manages to make you laugh but also has an interesting mix between physical and spoken comedy.
“The most memorable moment of the play was the physical comedy and bits of improv. Specifically, I remember a character getting a bag stuck around their foot and making it into a whole bit instead of just shrugging it off. I found the actors’ ability to improvise small bits very entertaining and impressive…I found the plot itself rather interesting, with the audience being able to see things the characters couldn’t.” said Dylan Tulloch.
The special dynamic in the play was that every time the audience could see, the characters couldn’t, and every time it was actually dark the characters in the play were supposed to see. So, the actors had to learn how to act and walk around in the dark. Even though a lot of the parts from the play were performed without much light, Jeffery said, “It wasn’t actually [that hard to perform in the dark]. We got really used to the set, so it felt natural to walk around in the darker parts of the show.”
The actors’ ability to perform, improvise, and act in the dark was really impressive. Everyone did a great job making the audience laugh and presenting the play. Black Comedy, the first APA show of this semester was a great success and an amazing start for the APA shows in the upcoming school year.
