Hilarity reigned in London where this masterpiece of classic farce was recently paired with Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound and at New York's Roundabout Theatre where a revised version of White Liars provided the curtain raiser. The mirth in this long one-act hinges on a highly theatrical concept: characters supposedly in the dark are brilliantly illuminated on stage; when lights are supposed to be on, the actors are in the dark. An unscrupulous sculptor has embellished his apartment with furniture and objects d'art "borrowed" from the absent antique dealer next door. Brindsley hopes to impress his debutante fiancee's pompous father while showing his work to a wealthy art buyer. The campy neighbor returns just as a blown fuse plunges the apartment into darkness and Brindsley is revealed teetering on the verge of very ripe farce. Seated guests, unexpected visitors, lurking phone cords and other snares in the dark impede his frantic attempts to return the purloined items before light is restored.
| Directed by | Vincent J. Balzano |