HomeThe Real Inspector Hound / Black Comedy

Author: Tom Stoppard

Director: Greg Doran

Black Comedy

Author: Peter Shaffer

Director: Greg Doran

Comedy Theatre, London

Dates

22 April '98 - 11 July '98

Synopsis

" A witty and delicious pairing"

A double of two comedies which were originally written in the '60's and paired for the first time in 1998. Both directed by Greg Doran, the eight strong cast played different characters in each play.

The cast included Desmond Barrit, Anna Chancellor, Sara Crowe, Geoffrey Freshwater, David Tennant, and Nicola McAuliffe.

Reviews 

"A witty and delicious pairing of two classic comedies. Greg Doran's production has the right frenzied choreographed skill and there are very funny performances from David Ttennant as the deceitful sculptor, Desmond Barrit as the neighbouring antique-dealer who suggests camp on the verge of being struck, and Geoffrey Freshwater as the electricity repairman mistaken for a millionaire art lover" The Guardian

"The mystery is why this suave pairing has never been attempted before...the plays both brilliantly exploit theatrical forms" The Times

"It is a special delight to welcome a pairing of two minor comic gems from the mid-60's" Daily Mail

"This farcical double-bill from the 1960s shows what absurd fun Tom Stoppard and Peter Shaffer created when they let their fantasies run wild - though with sex playing not much more than walk-on roles. Neither play is first-rate farce and the Stoppard, although as inventive and ingenious as you'd expect, comes across as too flimsily whimsical. But Shaffer's Black Comedy springs a volley of dateless jokes about furtive behaviour in the dark - when bottoms are touched and reputations lost." Evening Standard

"What could be better than a classic farce from the 1960s? Well, try two. In putting Tom Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound together with Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy, the director Greg Doran and the new Warehouse touring company at the Comedy have simply and satisfactorily solved a problem that has been around since both plays were first seen 30 years ago, namely what to couple with each of them. " The Spectator

Links

Tom Stoppard Bibliography

Greg Doran RSC