Home

Black Comedy/White Liars, the first production of CCT’s 2008-09 season, will be performed at the Washington University South Campus Theater November 7-23, 2008, with Friday and Saturday evening and Sunday matinee performances.  Rehearsals will begin the second week of September.  

# # #

 Plot Summary:  Black Comedy 

In this comedy, young artist Brindsley, and his hoity-toity girlfriend Carol ‘borrow’ neighbor Harold’s furniture in an attempt to impress millionaire art collector, George Bamberger, and Carol’s conservative father, the Colonel. However, a blown fuse just prior to the visit plunges the set into ‘darkness’ and sets in motion a series of events that effectively wreck the evening, including the unexpected appearance of Harold and Brindsley’s ex-girlfriend Clea, plus the untimely arrival of Colonel Melkett, thus whipping up a farcical storm that makes for a hilarious evening.   

Cast of Characters:  Black Comedy 

Brindsley Miller, a young sculptor (mid-twenties), intelligent and attractive, but nervous and uncertain of himself.
Carol Melkett, Brindsley's fiancée (late teens/20’s).  A young debutante; very pretty, very spoiled; very silly.  Her sound is that unmistakable, terrifying debutante quack.
Miss Furnival, a middle-aged lady (30’s-50’s).  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 undoes her.
Colonel Melkett, Carol's commanding father (40’s-50’s).  Brisk, barky, yet given to sudden vocal calms which suggest a deep and alarming instability.  It is not only the constant darkness which gives him his look of wide-eyed suspicion.
Harold Gorringe, the bachelor owner of an antique and china shop, and Brindsley' s neighbor (Older than Brindsley, age flexible).  Harold comes from the North of England.  His friendship is highly conditional and possessive: sooner or later, payment for it will be asked.  A specialist in emotional blackmail, he can become hysterical when slighted, or (as inevitably happens) rejected. 
Schuppanzigh, a German refugee, chubby, cultivated, and effervescent (age flexible).  He is an entirely happy man, delighted to be in England, even if it means being employed full time by the London Electricity Board.
Clea, Brindsley's ex-mistress (20’s-30’s).  Dazzling, emotional, bright and mischievous.  The challenge to her to create a dramatic situation out of the darkness is ultimately irresistible.
Georg Bamberger, an elderly millionaire art collector, easily identifiable as such (50+).  Like Schuppanzigh, he is a German. 

Plot Summary:  White Liars 

The drama White Liars revolves around Sophie Lemberg, an eccentric and disillusioned fortune teller (who imagines herself to be a baroness of the Holy Roman Empire) living in a decaying English seaside resort, and the two young men - Tom, the lead singer in a rock band, and Frank, his business manager - who consult her. 

Cast of Characters:  White Liars 

Sophie (~50's, age flexible) German accent
Tom (~20's) trendy rocker, uses both a North Country dialect, as well as a Proper British accent
Frank (~20's/30's) British accent, middle class, soft-spoken and gentle; his manner is shy, warm, and immediately likable.