A SAMUEL FRENCH, LTD. TITLE
Comic Potential
Full-Length Play, Comedy / 5w, 5m
" Comic Potential hurts you with the sheer exuberance of its laughter and liberates you with its seriousness." - London Sunday Times
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Cast Size
5w, 5m
Accolades
2000 Olivier Award nomination for Best Comedy
2000 Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play.
Details
Summary
A sensation in London and New York, this is one of the funniest and most inventive plays by Britain's grand master of comedy. A hilarious satire of television and a touching romantic comedy, it begins in a television studio where a hospital soap opera is being taped. One actor starts speaking gibberish; he is an "actoid," a robot, and his programming is off-kilter. Adam, the young nephew of the producer and an aspiring writer who worships the director (once a great movie director and now a broken-down has-been), is on the set. Adam starts chatting with Jacie Tripplethree, the actoid (serial number JC333) playing the nurse and finds, to his surprise, that not only can she carry on a conversation but, due to what she calls a fault in her programming, she has a creative imagination. Adam wants to build a new television series around her, but the studio will not hear of it. He also finds he is falling in love with the charming robot! Will Adam get the green light on his series? Will love prevail? Jacie is one of Ayckbourn's greatest characters; her portrayer won all of London's major acting awards.
Cast Attributes
- Time Period Contemporary
- Setting
A TV studio and various simple hotel settings
Media
Videos
Alan Ayckbourn on Writing a Well Made Play
Alan Ayckbourn on the Difference Between Then and Now
Alan Ayckbourn on Ideas
Alan Ayckbourn Growing As a Dramatist
Alan Ayckbourn on How to Approach His Plays
Alan Ayckbourn on Comparisons
Alan Ayckbourn on Getting Started
Licensing & Materials
- Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.
This title may have restrictions in place for London based productions. Please submit a licence request to confirm specific availability.