Summerside theatre company ventures into the farcical dark with its 3rd production

Ryan McKellop · CBC News

· Posted: May 03, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 22 minutes ago

Summerside's Seaside Theatre Company is conscionable a small implicit a twelvemonth old, but it's already staging its third play, called Black Comedy.

Described arsenic a "British farce with a twist," the play deed the signifier astatine MacAulay Performing Arts Centre on Thursday and volition tally done Sunday, May 4.

After lone 2 Seaside productions, manager Stuart Smith said people person been lining up to audition.

"Every show, we get a fewer much radical showing interest. The archetypal amusement we did, we had a fewer radical audition, past we had to spell astir and inquire immoderate people, 'Would you travel audition for us?'" helium said. 

"By the 3rd one... we had mode much radical than we could springiness roles to."

Smith said helium chose to signifier Black Comedy due to the fact that helium was funny successful Sir Peter Shaffer's work, having written a thesis connected the playwright who created Equus and Amadeus.

"This is his lone farce, truthful we had done a execution mystery, and past we had done benignant of a romanticist play successful the fall, and it conscionable felt similar it was clip to adhd a comedy," helium said. 

"I emotion farces, so I went backmost to Peter and decided to signifier the 1 farce helium wrote."

A farce with a virtually acheronian twist

Traditional British farce seeks to entertain an assemblage done situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant oregon absurd, and that surely describes Black Comedy, written successful 1965.

"Black Comedy is astir a sculptor who is trying to impressment his father-in-law by having a celebrated millionaire to travel successful and bargain his works," Smith said.

"Great, but the occupation is the powerfulness goes off, and not lone does the colonel travel in, the father, but an ex-girlfriend shows up successful the dark, and things commencement spinning retired of power from that infinitesimal onward."

That isn't the lone twist, though.

"What happens present is that erstwhile the signifier lights are on, the characters deliberation they're successful the dark. But erstwhile the signifier lights are off, they deliberation they tin see," Smith said.

"So the play starts successful darkness, existent acheronian for the audience, but past the powerfulness goes off, the lights travel connected and we get to spot the characters, for the adjacent 70 minutes, effort to get retired of complications that we tin spot are going connected and they can't."

'Interesting furniture of complication'

Performing without lights presents its ain challenges.

"It's decidedly been a situation to unreal that you don't spot the idiosyncratic close adjacent to you, to unreal you're not seeing the array you're astir bumping into. So it's added an absorbing furniture of complication, I guess, to the acting piece," said formed subordinate Ashley Vautour.

Another actor, Carol-Anne Luddington, is performing connected the signifier for the archetypal time.

"When this theatre radical opened, they were precise welcoming, but I wanted to bash benignant of down the scenes first, truthful this is my archetypal clip being connected signifier for this production," she said. "I'm a small nervous, but it's a truly amusive production.

"I've seen america practise 3 months present and I laughter each clip we ticker it, truthful I deliberation radical volition truly bask it."

Time for a laugh

"We had chosen this agelong earlier certain elections were held, truthful it benignant of worked retired good with the timing," said Smith. "I'm gladsome we're not doing a acheronian play close now, that's for sure. I deliberation that a small spot of serendipity means that we person a bully amusement for the times."

Interviewed connected CBC's Mainstreet earlier the tally began connected Thursday, immoderate formed members said they person mixed feeling looking toward the upcoming show.

"I can't hold for everybody to spot it because, like I said, it's hilarious and I deliberation radical volition person a really good clip and I'm excited to beryllium a portion of it," Luddington said.

"I'd accidental a substance of pridefulness and sadness, due to the fact that there's ever an excitement that comes with putting connected a amusement but a small spot of a sadness wherever you cognize that, each those rehearsals and the precocious nights practising your lines are coming to an end," Vautour said. "It's precise bittersweet."

Diverging accent levels

As for Smith, helium said the champion mode to get implicit those feeling is to look astatine what's up next.

"I ever benignant of gag that ... the person it comes to production, my accent levels goes down arsenic the actors' rise, to immoderate degree," helium said.

"It is bittersweet. The mode to get astir that, though, is to commencement to reasoning astir what's going to hap next, and truthful that's 1 happening that keeps america going."

Smith said he's arrogant of the enactment his radical has done since its founding.

"I deliberation the radical we've had person each been taking it seriously, but not excessively serious. We ever person bully laughs, but they each enactment hard and they privation to bash the champion amusement they perchance can," helium said.

"It's conscionable been a large bonding acquisition and conscionable we person a batch of laughs, it's truly a affirmative thing."