"The White Liars" and "Black Comedy"

February 27, 2011 — The weather cooperated nicely for a change. Friday, we were blitzed by an all-day mixed snow and freezing rain. The weather cleared Saturday so I had no trouble getting to the Stockbridge Theatre at Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire, where I had a reservation for an afternoon performance. Today, Sunday, it's snowing heavily again in one of those late winter storms New Hampshire seems to delight in clobbering us with just when we think winter is over.

Saturday, Theatre Kapow presented two short plays by Peter Shaffer at the Stockbridge, "The White Liars" and "Black Comedy." The gentleman who introduced the plays said a common theme joins the two plays. It being a college, he jokingly told the audience their assignment was to figure out what it was. My take on it is that deception and pretension are the common threads that run through both plays.

"The White Liars" concerns a fortune teller with grand pretensions who conspires with a young man to deceive his friend who he believes is stealing his girl. The scheme backfires in many ways, and everyone involved is exposed as being less than truthful, about themselves as well as others. Gail Angellis is excellent as the fortune teller. The play was a little too slow-paced for my taste, and seemed longer than its actual time of less than an hour, but for the most part I enjoyed it.

"Black Comedy," in sharp contrast to the first play, was fast-paced and riotously funny. Lighting played a major part in the presentation. The players' light was the audience's darkness and vice versa. (Don't ask. You have to see it.) Suffice it to say, the play was a triumph of timing, stagecraft and stunts. Stumbling actors, furniture-moving and mistaken identities prevailed. The multi-talented Carey Cahoon appeared. I saw her last year as Hedda in "Hedda Gabler." Her comic turn in "Black Comedy" was quite a departure from Ibsen's tragic heroine. Carey is also a director and costume and set designer.

Theatre Kapow is a small company with impressive talent all around. Their next production will be " 'night Mother" in May. I plan to be there.