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Exclusive Interview: Cody Barger of Tread The Boards 'Black Comedy' · The BSB Podcast

• 0:00
  Thank you so much for joining me today, Cody.
• 0:01
  How are you doing?
• 0:02
  I'm doing great, thanks for having me.
• 0:04
  So you're currently preparing for opening night of Black Comedy over at Tread the Board Theatre.
• 0:08
  How has the rehearsal process been so far?
• 0:10
  it's been great.
• 0:12
  We have a great group of, uh we have a great cast.
• 0:15
  They're really, really excited to be going.
• 0:18
  We got a few first timers, so this is very, very, very exciting for them.
• 0:22
  And it's, the show is just a romp and a whole lot of fun and a whole lot of stuff I don't think I've ever had to try doing before in my years of acting.
• 0:33
  So it's a great challenge for me as well.
• 0:35
  How many years have you been acting?
• 0:37
  Oh, let me think here.
• 0:39
  I started back in 2009, so about 16, 17-ish years.
• 0:46
  Plus a few things before that, but for the most part, taking it pretty seriously for about the last 16 years.
• 0:53
  That's incredible.
• 0:53
  That's a long time to be acting and bringing art to a local theater like this.
• 0:59
  yeah, and you know, it's great to just, there's just something about when I'm performing that just, know, the excitement for everyone else and the smiles when I come out and greet
• 1:10
  everybody, there's just something that warms my heart whenever I get to see that and it's always something I've loved doing and it really, it makes me very happy to see everyone
• 1:22
  else enjoying themselves and hearing that laughter when they laugh or.
• 1:25
  you know, whatever emotion that the part, this particular show that I'm in happens to bring out, there's just something amazing about that feeling.
• 1:35
  It's like finally seeing the reward to all the work you've been doing, because it's a lot of work to bring a production to life.
• 1:41
  And then getting to see audiences just react to it in such a positive way has to be really exciting.
• 1:46
  Yeah, and it's great because I like, one of the big things that I like to do is I really like to give myself over to what's, whatever's going on at the time.
• 1:54
  So like sometimes there are times where I have to bleed for my art and you know what, I'm okay with doing it because it's, like I said, it's just that feeling that you get when
• 2:03
  it's done that it's like, so rewarding.
• 2:05
  So what is black comedy about?
• 2:08
  So black comedy follows my character Brinsley.
• 2:11
  He's a sculptor who is trying to make money by selling his uh most recent sculptor to a millionaire who is coming to ah but purchase that when everything goes wrong and the power
• 2:26
  goes out.
• 2:27
  Well, him and his fiance have to deal with that plus her father who he has never met before coming over as well as the neighbors coming and he hopes that he doesn't get
• 2:36
  caught.
• 2:36
  having stolen his neighbor's furniture.
• 2:39
  So they all have to kind of deal with having to make sure nobody catches that Brinsley and Carol, his fiance, have been a little bit naughty.
• 2:49
  So it's a lot of fun, a lot of, um it's very different having to uh act in the dark, ah as they say.
• 2:57
  This one, ah when the lights go out, there's a lot of really cool effects that take place in order to convey that we are...
• 3:05
  without power and all of the lights are out.
• 3:08
  So there's a lot of fun there with a lot uh of ways of showing that, well, we can't see anything.
• 3:17
  Is that a challenge as an actor?
• 3:19
  I would imagine that acting with the lights off has to be something that's not typical of all that much.
• 3:25
  Well, the nice thing is it's a lot of pretending like we can't see each other.
• 3:29
  um So what happens is the show opens up with the power on, ah where when you're as an audience member, you are looking at a dark stage.
• 3:39
  But when the lights go out, the lights come on and you get to see us not seeing.
• 3:44
  ah
• 3:46
  So it's a unique perspective.
• 3:49
  You don't see a lot of shows taking that way, but it kind adds to the farcical humor of it.
• 3:53
  Exactly.
• 3:54
  ah With all of the mistaken identity and everything that gets to take place, there's a lot of um fun that gets to happen in the dark that you don't normally get to see on a stage,
• 4:04
  because everything is normally well lit and everybody is having a good time just...
• 4:08
  enjoying each other's presence when we don't get to enjoy anybody's presence because we don't know they're there.
• 4:14
  um It's really difficult having to remember, oh, I can't see you.
• 4:19
  um
• 4:21
  There's a lot of moments where it's like, I have to actively be like, don't look at her.
• 4:25
  Don't look at her.
• 4:26
  Don't look at her.
• 4:26
  I know she's talking to you.
• 4:27
  Don't look at her.
• 4:28
  Is that difficult, you know, having to like pretend not to see somebody?
• 4:32
  As a person who normally, you know, I'm very, I'm a very interactive person and a lot of the times when I'm talking, I really do like to see what other people's reactions are
• 4:41
  because that usually influences how I'm going to react because, you know, communication isn't just, you know, the words that are said, even though that's a major part of it, but
• 4:51
  how someone reacts is also going to change how I'm going to react as an actor.
• 4:54
  Well, I have to take, I have to basically take that part of my brain and shut it off because
• 4:59
  I can't see how they're reacting except for the few times that there's a little bit of light on stage, and in which case, I have to remember, there's light right now!
• 5:07
  I can see!
• 5:09
  I was gonna say, feel like innately most people like go to look at a person when they're talking or interacting.
• 5:16
  So that has to, you have to fight a lot of uh the ways that we interact with people to relearn it almost for this show.
• 5:24
  Yeah, where I have to basically when someone's talking to me, it's like, okay, well, how would I normally listen to this person if I'm trying to hear them in the dark?
• 5:33
  I kind of generally know where they are direction-wise because of where their voice is coming from, but...
• 5:39
  I don't know where they actually are because I'm not supposed to be able to see them, so I'm just kind of like, okay, let's see if I can hear...
• 5:46
  versus like, I can see you, let me take a look at you and watch you as you talk at me.
• 5:51
  It doesn't work, because it's, it's that, that's where we're at.
• 5:54
  And correct me if I'm wrong, this is also a one act play, correct?
• 5:57
  That is correct.
• 5:58
  um We have kind of cut it into two acts to give a small break as we do have a couple of other things to uh entertain people.
• 6:07
  We have a stand-up comedian and a singer coming to perform with us as well, which is very exciting.
• 6:13
  It's going to be great and it's going to really...
• 6:15
  um have a...
• 6:17
  So she's...
• 6:19
  My personal friend is going to be the singer.
• 6:20
  Her name is Riley.
• 6:21
  She's fantastic.
• 6:22
  She's going to be performing her...
• 6:24
  um A couple of her original songs for...
• 6:27
  ah for the first time on stage, which is super exciting for us, as well as we have a local stand-up comedian coming in to perform as well, and he's very, very funny.
• 6:36
  So it's gonna be a fantastic show, as well as some other fantastic things, and it's gonna be a great time.
• 6:44
  was going say it sounds like it's such a unique experience altogether.
• 6:48
  Not just the show, which is unique in how it maybe uses light and darkness and stuff like that, but also uh getting to kind of divide the show and bring in other talents from
• 6:59
  around the area.
• 7:00
  And it's awesome.
• 7:00
  Yeah, and we're very happy to have them.
• 7:02
  We're very grateful for them to come out and support the theater, support Tread the Boards, and Laura's very happy, our president, and she's just very excited to have people
• 7:12
  be able to come and see.
• 7:14
  Because even if theater's not necessarily entirely your thing, you're going to get a fun show, you're going to get some great music, you're going to get some stand-up comedy
• 7:26
  that'll make you laugh.
• 7:27
  So it's a great thing for...
• 7:29
  people of all different walks of life and all different styles of what they enjoy.
• 7:34
  So I recommend heavily for everybody to come and see what we have to offer here.
• 7:40
  So you had mentioned your characters, of like one of the connected tissues throughout the show.
• 7:44
  ah What do you feel like is uh their motivation?
• 7:47
  Like what is the motivation of your character?
• 7:49
  his motivation is not to get caught.
• 7:50
  ah Brinsley is kind of a swindler.
• 7:55
  He swindles in every aspect of his life.
• 7:58
  He's very flirtatious.
• 8:01
  very ah in himself.
• 8:05
  But he also is just like, woe is me, whenever it can benefit him most so that everyone's just like, poor Brynn.
• 8:11
  He's such a sweetie.
• 8:13
  And he just has everybody kind of wrapped around his finger.
• 8:16
  And that's the way he wants to keep it.
• 8:19
  Uh, he's...
• 8:20
  he's just a little bit of a naughty guy, and he's just very...
• 8:23
  it's very fun to play that, because it's...
• 8:25
  it's such a...
• 8:27
  it's such a delight to just be, I know what's going on.
• 8:31
  Oh, everything's going wrong.
• 8:35
  How do you approach bringing a character such as like this to the stage?
• 8:39
  Like what is, what do you pull from to make him feel real?
• 8:44
  You know, whenever I read a script for the first time, it is trying to find one of those things that I relate to.
• 8:53
  I am a recovering people pleaser.
• 8:59
  Just making everybody happy is kind of my thing.
• 9:02
  So I'm just like, OK.
• 9:04
  He's not doing it to make everybody happy.
• 9:06
  He's doing it to make himself happy more of a selfish way.
• 9:09
  But I can kind of use that energy of like, oh,
• 9:13
  I want th- I like when things are going well.
• 9:15
  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,
• 9:26
  in that frantic- that frantic feeling that you kinda get when everything starts to drop- when the ball starts dropping.
• 9:33
  And you're just like, I have to balance fourteen plates, what am I going to do?
• 9:37
  I guess I'm gonna keep this one spinning, but that one's also just as important.
• 9:41
  It's a lot, it's a lot to juggle there.
• 9:43
  Yes.
• 9:43
  What drew you to wanting to be in this project?
• 9:45
  honestly, um I thought the character was very...
• 9:50
  where it was very different, and I thought that it would be a nice challenge to be able to try and act this such different way of like, that...
• 9:58
  um the excitement of just being able to try and do something that I don't see very often in that.
• 10:06
  have to act like it's dark all the time and having to carry pieces of furniture in the dark and pretend like I know don't know where I'm going or I don't know I'm about to crash
• 10:17
  into somebody or I don't know where I am at any given point and just using that to be able to 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
• 10:32
  The more shows I'm in that give them a more unique experience, the more excitement I get out of it.
• 10:37
  So it really gives me the chance to be able to do that and kind of, you know, give that taste bud a little bit more of a, oh, it's different.
• 10:46
  It's new.
• 10:47
  It's exciting.
• 10:48
  It's fun.
• 10:49
  It's darkness.
• 10:53
  I was going say it really sounds like you get to expand your craft with this one.
• 10:56
  Exactly.
• 10:58
  That's what I was looking for.
• 10:59
  Expanding my craft and being able to try things that I haven't done before, you know?
• 11:04
  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.
• 11:12
  eh It's new, and it's fun.
• 11:16
  I love it.
• 11:18
  I mean, what better way to just really learn just how, we said, like expand your craft, but push your boundaries.
• 11:27
  Like this is just like, you don't hear of a show like this.
• 11:29
  I've, when I was doing my research for this interview, I've never heard of a show quite like 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.
• 11:45
  It has to be super rewarding once you nail it.
• 11:47
  Once you get it down, you're like, is exactly what I was hoping for.
• 11:51
  But it took forever maybe to get there to make it feel right.
• 11:56
  Yes, and like I've mentioned, it's that feeling of having to literally just go against everything I've naturally learned.
• 12:07
  My entire life, it's been make sure to watch who you're talking to, make sure to active listening.
• 12:12
  And I'm like, well, I don't get that option here.
• 12:16
  I don't get to look into someone's eyes when I'm having a conversation with them.
• 12:20
  I don't get to have those nice moments, because even when they're...
• 12:24
  Even when you get a tender moment in the dark, you don't get a tender moment in the dark because 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.
• 12:36
  You get to look directly out or directly in their general vicinity, but you're never looking at them.
• 12:42
  There's points where I'm like, I should be pointing here.
• 12:45
  What's the use?
• 12:47
  No one can see that I'm about to be pointing.
• 12:49
  But there are times where I'm going to be pointing anyway because that's what I hate.
• 12:53
  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 normally happen in the light don't make as much sense when they're in the dark.
• 13:05
  And that does add to the realism of the portrayal.
• 13:09
  People would probably still point in the dark.
• 13:11
  People would still act a certain way in the dark uh because those traits are still very human.
• 13:18
  Yeah.
• 13:21
  So final question for you is just what are you hoping audiences take away from this production of Black Comedy?
• 13:25
  I hope they take away that um there is so much revealed in the dark.
• 13:33
  There's so much excitement and fun to, know, even the idea of just feeling your way around in 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 when you're just sitting there in the dark.
• 13:52
  And that's not just literal, that's metaphorical as well.
• 13:55
  It's such a good feeling and it's so much fun and it's a laugh riot that really keeps you going.
• 14:04
  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.
• 14:14
  Absolutely, I mean, this is, I know I've used this earlier, but this is so unique.
• 14:18
  think that audiences are going to see a different kind of theater with this production.
• 14:24
  And it's also, like you said, it's kind of different for people who maybe aren't, you know, 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.
• 14:34
  And I think that that's really gonna be cool for audiences to witness.
• 14:37
  Yes, absolutely.
• 14:40
  So Black Comedy runs at Tread the Boards Theater in Waterford on June 13th through the 21st.
• 14:44
  So get your tickets now and we will see you there.
• 14:46
  Yeah, please come out.
• 14:47
  It's gonna be good.