Steve Martel has jousted as a knight at the Four Winds Renaissance Faire, worked in TCTC's tech booth and read roles in TCTC's New Play Festival and Printed Page Players at the Tyler Public Library. Now he'll make his TCTC debut onstage as the hapless Brindsley Miller in Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy. The comedy debuted in 1965, and TCTC staged the play during its 1991/1992 season.
Seen in this revival will be Ryann LeVrier as Brindsley's fiancee, Carol, and Dwain Hare as her father, Colonel Melkett. To impress both his future in-law and an art dealer, Brindsley has helped himself to furniture and decor from the flat of Harold Gorringe, a neighbor who is supposed to be out of town. Bob Cloos will play Harold, who returns unexpectedly and is outraged to find his belongings have been transported to Brindsley's flat.
Felicity Enas will be seen as a third neighbor, Miss Furnival. Other characters contributing to the darkened, hilarious evening are Brindsley's ex-girlfriend, Clea (Ashley Munson, making her TCTC debut), the German electrician/philosopher Schuppanzigh (Dan Benson), and the art dealer, Georg Bamberger (John Woods).
The play is set in a London flat during a power blackout. A few minutes into the show, a fuse blows, plunging the flat into darkness. Thereafter, the actors move as if they are in total darkness, invisible to one another but, of course, visible to the audience.
