Brindsley Miller . . Rob Snyder
Carol Melkett . . Deborah Sampson
Miss Furnival . . Lori D’Asta
Colonel Melkett . . Larry Horn
Harold Gorringe . . Joe Petrolis
Clea . . Linda Lee Cunningham
Schuppanzigh . . Michael Williams
Georg Bamberger . . Fred Sauers

Production Credits:
Director
Greg Kolack
Technical Director
Thad Hallstein
Stage Manager
Karen Arnold
Assistant Stage Manager
Cathy Van Horne
Costume Designers
Linda Bremer, Debby Mills
Costume Crew
Carolyn Redding
Dramaturg
Mary Dempsey
Hospitality Chair
Carol Clarke
Lighting Designer
Cal Turner
Lighting Crew
Tom Gess, Katie Pecis, Paul Roach, Betsy Stiles, Cathy Van Horne
Makeup Designers
Fred Sauers, Terri Smartz
Makeup Crew
Jennifer Schmidt
Properties Designers
Patti Roeder, Betsy Stiles
Properties Crew
Mark Cunningham, Bob Erck, Ann Marie and Harry Hultgren, Kathy Kusper
Set Construction Chairs
Bob Erck
Set Construction Crew

Set Designer
Rob Pold
Set Painting Chair
Mary Pavia
Sound Designer
Bill Hammack
Sound Crew
Jack Calvert, Peggy Solick
Box Office Chair
Mary Ellen Schutt
Box Office Crew
Ed Barrow, Kelli Kopp, Lori B. Proksa, Patti Roeder, Marilyn Wilson
House Manager Chair
Bill Wilson
House Managers
Dave Bremer, Jack Calvert, Rob Cramer, George Dempsey, Roland Imes, Donna Kanak, Jon Mills, Denny Wise
Front Row Center Flyer, Joe Petrolis
Group Sales Chair, Betsy Stiles
Poster Distribution, Kathleen Kusper
Production Coordinator, Jon Mills
Program Advertising, Peggy Carlson
Program Editors, Ed Barrow, Marion J. Reis
Publicity Chair, Janette Quinn
Actives Archives Website, Judy DiVita

Acknowledgments
Produced with special permission from Samuel French, Inc.

Special thanks to:
The Fruit Store, Western Springs and Hinsdale, for providing apple cider at cost with free delivery.

Starbucks, Western Springs, for providing decaf coffee for the Thursday performances.

Setting:
The play takes place in Brindsley’s apartment
in South Kensington, London
Time: 9:30 on a Sunday night in the mid Sixties

Director’s Corner
By Greg Kolak

I first encountered Black Comedy at the Candlelight’s Forum Theatre in the fall of 1974 (where, unknown to me, I would begin working 2 years later – and stay for 22 years!) Though I was only 17 and pretty new to theatre, I knew the concept of the play was brilliant. This was my introduction to Peter Shaffer, whom I would eventually come to regard (and still do) as the greatest living playwright.

This is the third Shaffer play I have directed, and the sixth Shaffer production I have been part of. If you look at many of his works, the theme of obsession runs through them all.

I personally believe his play, Equus is the greatest play ever written, taking a horrific act and using it to tackle the question of sanity and passion (or the lack of it). Amadeus uses the story of Mozart and Salieri to explore talent bordering on madness as well as rivalry and jealousy, and the incredible Royal Hunt of the Sun uses the conquest of the Incas to tackle religion and murder in the name of God. Even his two early comedies, The Public Eye and The Private Ear, are “thinking” comedies. All of these plays deal in some way with obsession.

The fact that the same man who wrote these great works exploring man’s nature also wrote a brilliant farce such as Black Comedy is a tribute to Shaffer’s talent and range. But if you look past the laughs in the show, the idea of obsession rises to the surface in many of the characters – obsession with material things, obsession with following rules, obsession with morals. And the fact that Peter Shaffer makes us laugh while touching on these characters' obsessions in subtle ways is the mark of a great playwright.

Dramaturg’s Diary
By Mary Dempsey

Born in Liverpool, England in 1926, Peter Schaffer and his twin brother, Anthony, both established themselves as well-known British writers of the post-World War II era.

Peter Shaffer's illustrious playwrighting career began in 1958 with the London production of Five Finger Exercise which subsequently opened in New York during the 1959 season. During the 1960's, Shaffer wrote five plays including The Private Ear and The Public Eye, The Royal Hunt of the Sun, and Black Comedy, which was presented in London in 1966, and opened with a companion piece, White Lies, later revised and retitled White Liars. The revised version appeared in New York in 1976. Two of Shaffer's dramas from the 1970's, Equus and Amadeus, brought great acclaim from critics in both New York and London. Shaffer later wrote the film script of both plays and received an Oscar for Best Screenplay in 1985 (Amadeus). The 1980's saw Black Mischief, Yonadab, Lettice and Lovage and The Gift of the Gorgon. All opened in England, but only Lettice and Lovage was produced in New York.

Shaffer's many honors include two Tony Awards (1975, 1981), two New York Drama Critics Circle Awards (1986), and the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in American Theatre (1992).

In 1987 he was named a C.B.E. (Commander Order of the British Empire). Peter Shaffer has authored radio and television plays as well as two novels under the pen name Peter Antony and co-authored a 1955 novel, Withered Murder with his twin brother. Several aspects of Shaffer's playwrighting skills are widely praised by critics including his use of detective fiction elements and his employment of musical themes. In Black Comedy his clever use of lighting techniques is an example of a simple device which audiences enjoy greatly.

In May, 1970, TWS presented Black Comedy as the concluding production of the Theatre's 41st Season under the direction of Mary Cattell, our founder. It was her final complete season as Director. The other Peter Shaffer play presented by TWS was Lettice and Lovage, the final production of our 65th Season, directed by Ronn Toebaas in 1994. It is interesting to note that Fred Sauers, playing the role of in our present production of Georg Bamberger played the role of Harold Gorringe in our 1970 production.

For further information on Peter Schaffer there are six biographies, five written in the 1970's and the latest, entitled Peter Shaffer by C. J. Gianakaris was published by Basingstoke Macmillan in 1992.

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