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June 18, 2025 • 14 mins

There's nothing we love more than a theatre that's willing to push the boundaries with the shows they're telling, creating a unique experience for audiences. Tread the Boards, located in Waterford, MI, is doing just that with their production of Black Comedy. This show utilizes light and darkness to entice the senses of both those watching and the cast members on stage, making for a hilarious time for all parties involved. We recently spoke with one of the cast members, Cody Barger, about his time on this production!

In this exclusive Box Seat Babes interview, Cody Barger explains what makes Black Comedy such a unique show in the theatre landscape. He explores how the use of light and darkness has pushed him in his craft, and how pretending not to see his other cast members while interacting with them on stage has been the biggest challenge of this production. Interested to learn more about the story of Black Comedy or who Barger is playing in the narrative? Why has Tread the Boards split this one-act play into two parts? Give this exciting interview a listen to find out all this and more!

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Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Thank you so much for joining me today, Cody.

(00:01):
How are you doing?
I'm doing great, thanks for having me.
So you're currently preparing for opening night of Black Comedy over at Tread the BoardTheatre.
How has the rehearsal process been so far?
it's been great.
We have a great group of, uh we have a great cast.
They're really, really excited to be going.
We got a few first timers, so this is very, very, very exciting for them.

(00:22):
And it's, the show is just a romp and a whole lot of fun and a whole lot of stuff I don'tthink I've ever had to try doing before in my years of acting.
So it's a great challenge for me as well.
How many years have you been acting?
Oh, let me think here.
I started back in 2009, so about 16, 17-ish years.

(00:46):
Plus a few things before that, but for the most part, taking it pretty seriously for aboutthe last 16 years.
That's incredible.
That's a long time to be acting and bringing art to a local theater like this.
yeah, and you know, it's great to just, there's just something about when I'm performingthat just, know, the excitement for everyone else and the smiles when I come out and greet

(01:10):
everybody, there's just something that warms my heart whenever I get to see that and it'salways something I've loved doing and it really, it makes me very happy to see everyone
else enjoying themselves and hearing that laughter when they laugh or.
you know, whatever emotion that the part, this particular show that I'm in happens tobring out, there's just something amazing about that feeling.

(01:35):
It's like finally seeing the reward to all the work you've been doing, because it's a lotof work to bring a production to life.
And then getting to see audiences just react to it in such a positive way has to be reallyexciting.
Yeah, and it's great because I like, one of the big things that I like to do is I reallylike to give myself over to what's, whatever's going on at the time.
So like sometimes there are times where I have to bleed for my art and you know what, I'mokay with doing it because it's, like I said, it's just that feeling that you get when

(02:03):
it's done that it's like, so rewarding.
So what is black comedy about?
So black comedy follows my character Brinsley.
He's a sculptor who is trying to make money by selling his uh most recent sculptor to amillionaire who is coming to ah but purchase that when everything goes wrong and the power

(02:26):
goes out.
Well, him and his fiance have to deal with that plus her father who he has never metbefore coming over as well as the neighbors coming and he hopes that he doesn't get
caught.
having stolen his neighbor's furniture.
So they all have to kind of deal with having to make sure nobody catches that Brinsley andCarol, his fiance, have been a little bit naughty.

(02:49):
So it's a lot of fun, a lot of, um it's very different having to uh act in the dark, ah asthey say.
This one, ah when the lights go out, there's a lot of really cool effects that take placein order to convey that we are...
without power and all of the lights are out.
So there's a lot of fun there with a lot uh of ways of showing that, well, we can't seeanything.

(03:17):
Is that a challenge as an actor?
I would imagine that acting with the lights off has to be something that's not typical ofall that much.
Well, the nice thing is it's a lot of pretending like we can't see each other.
um So what happens is the show opens up with the power on, ah where when you're as anaudience member, you are looking at a dark stage.

(03:39):
But when the lights go out, the lights come on and you get to see us not seeing.
ah
So it's a unique perspective.
You don't see a lot of shows taking that way, but it kind adds to the farcical humor ofit.
Exactly.
ah With all of the mistaken identity and everything that gets to take place, there's a lotof um fun that gets to happen in the dark that you don't normally get to see on a stage,

(04:04):
because everything is normally well lit and everybody is having a good time just...
enjoying each other's presence when we don't get to enjoy anybody's presence because wedon't know they're there.
um It's really difficult having to remember, oh, I can't see you.
um
There's a lot of moments where it's like, I have to actively be like, don't look at her.

(04:25):
Don't look at her.
Don't look at her.
I know she's talking to you.
Don't look at her.
Is that difficult, you know, having to like pretend not to see somebody?
As a person who normally, you know, I'm very, I'm a very interactive person and a lot ofthe times when I'm talking, I really do like to see what other people's reactions are
because that usually influences how I'm going to react because, you know, communicationisn't just, you know, the words that are said, even though that's a major part of it, but

(04:51):
how someone reacts is also going to change how I'm going to react as an actor.
Well, I have to take, I have to basically take that part of my brain and shut it offbecause
I can't see how they're reacting except for the few times that there's a little bit oflight on stage, and in which case, I have to remember, there's light right now!
I can see!
I was gonna say, feel like innately most people like go to look at a person when they'retalking or interacting.

(05:16):
So that has to, you have to fight a lot of uh the ways that we interact with people torelearn it almost for this show.
Yeah, where I have to basically when someone's talking to me, it's like, okay, well, howwould I normally listen to this person if I'm trying to hear them in the dark?
I kind of generally know where they are direction-wise because of where their voice iscoming from, but...

(05:39):
I don't know where they actually are because I'm not supposed to be able to see them, soI'm just kind of like, okay, let's see if I can hear...
versus like, I can see you, let me take a look at you and watch you as you talk at me.
It doesn't work, because it's, it's that, that's where we're at.
And correct me if I'm wrong, this is also a one act play, correct?
That is correct.
um We have kind of cut it into two acts to give a small break as we do have a couple ofother things to uh entertain people.

(06:07):
We have a stand-up comedian and a singer coming to perform with us as well, which is veryexciting.
It's going to be great and it's going to really...
um have a...
So she's...
My personal friend is going to be the singer.
Her name is Riley.
She's fantastic.
She's going to be performing her...
um A couple of her original songs for...
ah for the first time on stage, which is super exciting for us, as well as we have a localstand-up comedian coming in to perform as well, and he's very, very funny.

(06:36):
So it's gonna be a fantastic show, as well as some other fantastic things, and it's gonnabe a great time.
was going say it sounds like it's such a unique experience altogether.
Not just the show, which is unique in how it maybe uses light and darkness and stuff likethat, but also uh getting to kind of divide the show and bring in other talents from

(06:59):
around the area.
And it's awesome.
Yeah, and we're very happy to have them.
We're very grateful for them to come out and support the theater, support Tread theBoards, and Laura's very happy, our president, and she's just very excited to have people
be able to come and see.
Because even if theater's not necessarily entirely your thing, you're going to get a funshow, you're going to get some great music, you're going to get some stand-up comedy

(07:26):
that'll make you laugh.
So it's a great thing for...
people of all different walks of life and all different styles of what they enjoy.
So I recommend heavily for everybody to come and see what we have to offer here.
So you had mentioned your characters, of like one of the connected tissues throughout theshow.
ah What do you feel like is uh their motivation?

(07:47):
Like what is the motivation of your character?
his motivation is not to get caught.
ah Brinsley is kind of a swindler.
He swindles in every aspect of his life.
He's very flirtatious.
very ah in himself.
But he also is just like, woe is me, whenever it can benefit him most so that everyone'sjust like, poor Brynn.

(08:11):
He's such a sweetie.
And he just has everybody kind of wrapped around his finger.
And that's the way he wants to keep it.
Uh, he's...
he's just a little bit of a naughty guy, and he's just very...
it's very fun to play that, because it's...
it's such a...
it's such a delight to just be, I know what's going on.

(08:31):
Oh, everything's going wrong.
How do you approach bringing a character such as like this to the stage?
Like what is, what do you pull from to make him feel real?
You know, whenever I read a script for the first time, it is trying to find one of thosethings that I relate to.

(08:53):
I am a recovering people pleaser.
Just making everybody happy is kind of my thing.
So I'm just like, OK.
He's not doing it to make everybody happy.
He's doing it to make himself happy more of a selfish way.
But I can kind of use that energy of like, oh,

(09:13):
I want th- I like when things are going well.
So, kinda taking that, no, everything's going wrong, and chaotic energy, and just going,alright, I gotta- I- I just use this, and I just- it- it really fuels me to just be like,
in that frantic- that frantic feeling that you kinda get when everything starts to drop-when the ball starts dropping.

(09:33):
And you're just like, I have to balance fourteen plates, what am I going to do?
I guess I'm gonna keep this one spinning, but that one's also just as important.
It's a lot, it's a lot to juggle there.
Yes.
What drew you to wanting to be in this project?
honestly, um I thought the character was very...
where it was very different, and I thought that it would be a nice challenge to be able totry and act this such different way of like, that...

(09:58):
um the excitement of just being able to try and do something that I don't see very oftenin that.
have to act like it's dark all the time and having to carry pieces of furniture in thedark and pretend like I know don't know where I'm going or I don't know I'm about to crash
into somebody or I don't know where I am at any given point and just using that to be ableto be like okay it's it's unique experiences are things that make life exciting and give

(10:29):
extra spice to it and I find that
The more shows I'm in that give them a more unique experience, the more excitement I getout of it.
So it really gives me the chance to be able to do that and kind of, you know, give thattaste bud a little bit more of a, oh, it's different.
It's new.
It's exciting.
It's fun.
It's darkness.

(10:53):
I was going say it really sounds like you get to expand your craft with this one.
Exactly.
That's what I was looking for.
Expanding my craft and being able to try things that I haven't done before, you know?
I've been in shows where I've been hit with various objects of different sizes, weights,and structures, and this one, I'm getting hit by the dark.
eh It's new, and it's fun.

(11:16):
I love it.
I mean, what better way to just really learn just how, we said, like expand your craft,but push your boundaries.
Like this is just like, you don't hear of a show like this.
I've, when I was doing my research for this interview, I've never heard of a show quitelike black comedy where you're having so much changes with light in darkness and having

(11:41):
to, and you're saying responding in ways that you never had to respond before that like.
It has to be super rewarding once you nail it.
Once you get it down, you're like, is exactly what I was hoping for.
But it took forever maybe to get there to make it feel right.
Yes, and like I've mentioned, it's that feeling of having to literally just go againsteverything I've naturally learned.

(12:07):
My entire life, it's been make sure to watch who you're talking to, make sure to activelistening.
And I'm like, well, I don't get that option here.
I don't get to look into someone's eyes when I'm having a conversation with them.
I don't get to have those nice moments, because even when they're...
Even when you get a tender moment in the dark, you don't get a tender moment in the darkbecause there's no, you don't get that sight and that full emotional, you know, back and

(12:33):
forth because you don't get to look at them.
You get to look directly out or directly in their general vicinity, but you're neverlooking at them.
There's points where I'm like, I should be pointing here.
What's the use?
No one can see that I'm about to be pointing.
But there are times where I'm going to be pointing anyway because that's what I hate.
That's what I would do.

(12:54):
And it's like, there's some of the comedy in there is just that things that would normallyhappen in the light don't make as much sense when they're in the dark.
And that does add to the realism of the portrayal.
People would probably still point in the dark.
People would still act a certain way in the dark uh because those traits are still veryhuman.

(13:18):
Yeah.
So final question for you is just what are you hoping audiences take away from thisproduction of Black Comedy?
I hope they take away that um there is so much revealed in the dark.
There's so much excitement and fun to, know, even the idea of just feeling your way aroundin the dark a little bit can be fun as well as spooky.

(13:44):
ah There's so much more fun and when the lights come on, so much can be revealed whenyou're just sitting there in the dark.
And that's not just literal, that's metaphorical as well.
It's such a good feeling and it's so much fun and it's a laugh riot that really keeps yougoing.
ah Please do come out, see it, support Tread the Boards.

(14:08):
We're a new theater and we're having a great time and we know you will as well.
Absolutely, I mean, this is, I know I've used this earlier, but this is so unique.
think that audiences are going to see a different kind of theater with this production.
And it's also, like you said, it's kind of different for people who maybe aren't, youknow, they don't think that they're into traditional theater.

(14:31):
This pushes the boundaries a little bit and it makes it little more exciting.
And I think that that's really gonna be cool for audiences to witness.
Yes, absolutely.
So Black Comedy runs at Tread the Boards Theater in Waterford on June 13th through the21st.
So get your tickets now and we will see you there.
Yeah, please come out.
It's gonna be good.
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