GHENT PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES UPCOMING AUDITIONS

 

BLACK COMEDY
Written by Peter Shaffer
Directed by Ed Dignum

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11 and WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2025 
Sign-up 6:30 p.m. // Start time 7:00 p.m.

At The Ghent Playhouse
6 Town Hall Place
Ghent, NY  12075

The Ghent Playhouse announces auditions for Peter Shaffer’s hilarious play, BLACK COMEDY, to be directed by Ed Dignum.

Set in London during the mid-1960’s, at the height of the “swinging sixties” era when “mod” fashions and culture were in full bloom.  The story involves a young sculptor, Brindsley Miller, and his fiancée, who have “borrowed” some expensive antique furniture from his absent neighbor’s flat, in order to impress the girl’s father and an elderly millionaire art collector.  Matters descend into near chaos when the power suddenly fails, impeding Brindsley’s frantic attempts to return the purloined items before light is restored.  

The premise of the show is that light and dark are transposed, so that when the stage is lit, cast members are supposed to be in darkness, and only when the stage is dark are they supposed to be able to see each other and their surroundings. 

BLACK COMEDY was first presented by the National Theatre in 1965 and subsequently at the Old Vic, London, before moving to Broadway, where it won a Tony Award for Best Play in 1967.  

The New York Daily News called the show, “a dazzling comic ballet.”  “Hilarious,” wrote the New York Post.  The London Sunday Times called BLACK COMEDY “One of the funniest and most brilliant plays in the language.”

PERFORMANCE DATES:
January 23-25 and January 30-February 1, 2026
Friday and Saturday Evenings at 7:30 pm
Sunday Matinees at 2:00 pm
Preview Performance, Thursday, January 22, 2026 at 7:30 pm

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:
NOTE:  All age ranges for actors are relative to the age ranges of those actors playing opposing roles.  Actors who are outside the age ranges listed, but feel they can play within those ranges, are strongly encouraged to audition. 

BRINDSLEY MILLER:  A young sculptor.  Age range 25-35.  Intelligent and attractive, but nervous and uncertain of himself.

CAROL MELKETT:  Brindsley’s fiancée.  Age range 25-35.  Very pretty, very spoiled, very silly.  Her sound is that unmistakable, terrifying debutante quack.

MISS FURNIVAL:  Age range 40-65.  Prissy and refined.  Clad in the blouse and sack skirt of her gentility, her hair in a bun, her voice in a bun, she reveals only the repressed gestures of the middle-class spinster... until alcohol does her in.

COLONEL MELKETT:  Carol’s commanding father.  Age range 50-70.  Brisk, barky, yet given to sudden vocal calms which suggest a deep, alarming instability.  It is not only the constant darkness that gives him his look of wide-eyed submission.

HAROLD GORRINGE:  The owner of an antique-china shop, and Brindsley’s neighbor.  Age range 35-50.  Harold’s is a fussy, flamboyant (for the 60’s) “bachelor” whose friendship is highly conditional and possessive.  A specialist in emotional blackmail, he can become hysterical when slighted or, (as inevitably happens) rejected.

SCHUPPANZIGH:  Can be played by a male or female actor.  Gender is less important than having a similar vocal range to Bamberger.  No specific age range.  A German refugee, cultivated and effervescent.  An entirely happy person, delighted to be in England, even if it means being employed full-time by the London Electricity Board.

CLEA:  Brindsley’s ex-mistress.  Age range 25-35.  She is dazzling, emotional, bright, and mischievous.  The challenge to her to create a dramatic situation out of the darkness is ultimately irresistible.

BAMBERGER:  Can be played by a male or female actor.  Gender is less important than having a similar vocal range to Schuppanzigh.  No specific age range.  An elderly art collector, easily identifiable as such.  Like Schuppanzigh, he/she is also German.  

THE REHEARSAL SCHEDULE WILL BE BASED UPON THE AVAILABILITY OF THOSE WHO ARE CAST.  THEREFORE, AUDITIONERS ARE REQUESTED TO BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE IN LISTING ANY AND ALL CONFLICTS ON THEIR AUDITION APPLICATION.  

AUDITIONERS WILL BE ASKED TO READ SPECIFIC SIDES FROM THE SCRIPT, WHICH CAN BE EMAILED TO THOSE INTERESTED BY CONTACTING DIRECTOR ED DIGNUM AT edwarddignum7@gmail.com or by calling him at (518) 791-4034.