Black Comedy– Orange Tree Theatre

Aspiring sculptor, social climber, and cad Brindsley Miller is supposed to be hosting both his fiancé’s well-to-do father as well as a famed art collector in his unimpressive flat, when a blown fuse plunges the entire building into darkness. What follows is a hilarious cavalcade of slapstick gags and farcical set pieces, as Miller attempts to spin more and more plates and stay on top of an ever-growing web of lies in order to keep his many transgressions from coming to light. Unlike Miller’s evening, this revival of Peter Shaffer’s farce is an absolute success.

While the characters are in darkness, the audience gets a clear view of everything, thanks to Elliot Griggs’s simple-yet-effective lighting design (and a lighting desk operator with split-second-perfect timing). While the characters are in pitch blackness, the stage is fully illuminated for the audience to see the actors hilariously stumbling around, and when a character lights a torch or a match the lighting state changes to a dimmer one, to give the audience an impression of what the characters themselves are seeing. The result is absolutely seamless.

The actors are all at the top of their game. As an ever-growing roster of characters arrive at the darkened flat, each actor’s performance is as entertaining as the last, and each character is given a distinctly amusing physicality and voice. Crucially, every actor does a brilliant job of pretending to be in complete darkness, grasping around shakily for some landmark with which to orient themselves. Joe Bannister’s slapstick physicality is impeccable; his is the most physical role, and he absolutely sells every crash and stumble.

The overall standout performer to me personally is Jason Barnett, who plays the stern Colonel Melkett. Barnett gives a delightfully unhinged performance, reminiscent of a posh English version of Jackie Gleeson’s Buford T. Justice in Smokey and the Bandit. He huffs and puffs around the stage, and every over-enunciated criticism or impassioned outburst is completely side-splitting.

Caroline Steinbeis’s direction is fantastic. The blocking is the epitome of organised chaos; while the characters stumble around in confusion and disarray, the eye is always drawn to what is most important for understanding the plot. This is made all the more impressive by the venue’s in-the-round configuration, with the blocking successfully accounting for multiple eyelines. The direction and performances come together perfectly in an extended set piece in which Miller must sneakily replace all the furniture without being detected, which results in nonstop hilarity from start to finish. The occasional fourth-wall break can be a little distracting, as can the sound design, as it somewhat breaks the sense of immersion and location, but these moments are rare and inoffensive enough to overlook. 

If you enjoy farce, slapstick, or have any kind of sense of humour at all, you must see Black Comedy immediately. A timeless script, expert direction, and a full cast of comedically-gifted actors synergise into an unforgettable whirlwind of entertainment.

Black Comedy runs until July 11^th at the Orange Tree Theare, with tickets available at https://orangetreetheatre.co.uk

Reviewer: Charles Edward Pipe

Reviewed: 27th May 2026

North West End UK Rating: