Subserie 6 - 'Black Comedy'

6.5 boxes

Correspondence, drafts, printed material, and photographs for the one-act play 'Black Comedy,' which premiered at the Chichester Festival on 27 July 1965. Some material in this section relates to another one-act play, 'White Lies' or 'The White Liars,' which was written to form a double-bill with 'Black Comedy' beginning with the New York production in 1967. 'Black Comedy' was also partnered with 'The Public Eye' and performed under the name 'Light Comedies' in 1984, and some material relating to this may be found in SHAF B3.

In addition to the original playscript and rehearsal playscripts for later versions of the play, Drafts includes a copy of Anthony Shaffer's adapted screenplay (SHAF B6/2/6), and a production notebook for the Dolphin Theatre Company's production of 'White Liars' and 'Black Comedy' in 1976 (SHAF B6/2/7). There are also 24 photographs of Franco Zeffirelli's production of 'Black Comedy' in 1967 (SHAF B6/4/2).

See also: SHAF B5/2/9, Draft revisions for 'The Royal Hunt of the Sun' for a note about the origin of the play 'Black Comedy.'