Black Comedy- Theatre at its best

Black Comedy- NUJS' first theatre production opened to a bout of silent anticipation in the auditorium on the eve of Holi. The darkness on the stage was in tune with the bated breath of the audience. And as just everyone was expecting lights to be turned on, voices were heard in the dark...

Black Comedy by Peter Shaffer, follows a reversed lighting scheme. It is a farce set in a London flat during an electrical blackout. To read the play, click here

It was a difficult task to handle the lights in this particular theatre production. Murali rose to the task and performed it admirably. Vishnu Shriram managed to win over the audience with his sound effects. The set designed by Peter Adam and Vijay was nothing short of miraculously marvellous. Costumes arranged for by Ketaki Purohit suited the play perfectly and the ease and dexterity with which Nitika Gupta designed and arranged for the props was amazing. Modhulika Bose did a fantastic job as the asistant director. Being the convenor of the cultural committee, Naman Gupta was thought of to be the right person to be the production manager and he proved the same right. And the play would not have been possible if not for Amoolya Narayan, the director and the most enthusiastic person on the sets. The cast and crew worked tirelessly for perfection, helped by several others including commiittee members. The play could not have been pulled off but for everyone's cooperation and support.


The play opened with Brindsle (played by Divyanshu) and his fiancée Carol (played by Srishti Goyal) who have taken the fancy furniture of neighbour Harold’s ((played by Jochaim Saldana)flat in order to impress Carol's father, Colonel Melkett (played by Tapobrata Mukherjee). Brindsley is afraid that the Colonel will not give up his daughter to a starving artist. Things go awry when the lights go out, leaving Brindlsey helpless as characters arrive, one by one. First is Brindsley's elderly neighbor, Miss Furnival (played by Vaishnavi), followed by Colonel Melkett, unimpressed by the blackout, and Brindsley's worst nightmare comes true as Harold returns early. Brindsley tries desperately to return the furniture without Harold noticing while dealing with the rest of the guests (which includes the electrician/philosopher Schuppanzigh (played by Vineet Bhalla)and the millionaire George Bamberger (played by Devang Agarwala). The play ended with a standing ovation by the audience who were enthralled by the magical experience they had just had.

Here is a short clip from the play: