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Peer Reviews The
White Liars / Black Comedy Entire contents are copyright © 2007, Craig Nolan Highley. All rights reserved.
The White Liars / Black Comedy opened on Broadway on September 1st, 1993, and closed on October 3rd, after 38 performances. After seeing Louisville Repertory Company's new production at the MeX, I'm afraid I'm not surprised the Broadway run was so short. The two short plays which make up the production are as different as night and day, and sadly, that goes for content as well as quality. Both acts are well acted and directed, but Act I is crippled by a weak script. And that is surprising, considering it was written by Peter Shaffer (Equus, Amadeus). In the first act, "The White Liars," the story concerns young Frank (Jacob Banser), who hires the Baroness (Judy Beam), an inebriated medium, to give a fake reading to his friend Tom (Dan Hardesty). The idea is to scare Tom away from Frank's girlfriend, but nothing is as it seems and we are subjected to one glaringly obvious plot twist after another for over an hour. However, it is a credit to the skills of the three actors and to director Amy Lewis that this segment of the play is as watchable as it is; even though I could see where everything was going pretty early, I was still curious. Beam's expert portrayal of the medium keeps your attention and provides most of the story's humor. She is definitely the first act's strongest asset. And you can't help but feel compassion for the two young men, thanks to strong performances by Banser and Hardesty. It's just a shame these talented people weren't given better material. The whole evening is redeemed, however, by the second act, "Black Comedy." It's also not one of Shaffer's better scripts, but it has a gimmick that makes it intriguing: it starts off in total darkness, even though the performers appear to be able to see perfectly well. When the lights come up suddenly, we realize that the characters are in a blackout, so everything that we see is invisible to the characters on stage. The story is very traditional stage farce: Brindsley (Dan Sawtelle) has invited his fiancée Carol (Victoria Lewis) and her father, Colonel Melkett (Sean Childress), to his meager apartment to meet a wealthy art dealer (Jim Jeffries), who is coming to look at some of Brindsley's work. Afraid Carol's father will look down on his meager belongings, Brindsley borrows an apartment full of furniture (without permission) from his prissy wealthy neighbor Harold (Sydney Hymson). Then the blackout hits, and all hell breaks loose. Several performances in the second act stand out, beginning with Sawtelle's manic performance as Brindsley. Played in full Jim Carrey mode, it was extremely funny and exhausting to watch. Hymson was also quite amusing as the effeminate Harold, probably the best performance I've seen this actor give. Victoria Lewis and Christina Biller are fun as the love interests; Lewis expertly embodies the spoiled yuppie princess, and Biller gives her vampish character just enough sex appeal. And Childress portrays the stuffy Colonel with just enough bluster to create a real character and not just a caricature. Kudos are also due for Brian Shaw's whimsical set design, one of the most impressive I've ever seen at the MeX. The costumes also give quite the 1960's feel, complete with go-go boots and platform heels that would make Nancy Sinatra green with envy. Amy Lewis's direction manages to keep things moving for the most part, and skillfully covers the script problems as well as possible. All in all, your enjoyment of the piece will likely depend on your tolerance for the material. Although there are problems as noted, neither of the two plays is completely without merit. The second act is definitely more fun and makes the evening worth your time. The White Liars / Black Comedy Starring Jacob Banser, Judy Beam, Christina Biller,
Sean Childress, Dan Hardesty, Sidney Hymson, Jim
Jeffries, JoAnn Kime, Dario Konjicija, Victoria
Lewis, and Dan Sawtelle Posted June 25, 2007
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