Comic Potential: A Play [Paperback]

Alan Ayckbourn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 29, 2000

A sci-fi comedy thriller, Comic Potential is a play set in the foreseeable future, when everything has changed--except human nature

Comic Potential is set in a television studio in the near future, where the director--an alcoholic has-been--and two assistants are making a daytime soap opera of the usual appalling sort. However, the difference here is that they are using actoids--robots programmed to act--and there are no scriptwriters. Into this situation comes the idealistic Adam, the nephew of the millionaire station owner, who wants to write comedy of the quality that Chaplin and Keaton once embodied. But when Adam falls in love with Jaycee Triplethree (JC333), one of the actoids on the show, everything is turned upside down as she grows more human and the line between actoid and human diminishes. When in anguish Jaycee finally cries that she can't say anything she hasn't been programmed to say, Adam points out that no one ever says anything original anyway.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'As with all Ayckbourn's best plays you are watching a comedy-farce and suddenly find that tragedy comes out of the woodwork and grins at you...Like all serious comedies, Comic Potential hurts you with the sheer exuberance of its laughter and liberates you with its seriousness...The master of Scarborough is still on top form."--Sunday Times

"He is a profoundly moral writer and . . . has reached a new synthesis between the comic and the serious-the painfully funny . . . We are a fortunate age to have had our own Molière."--Sir Peter Hall

About the Author

Born in London in 1939, Alan Ayckbourn spent most of his childhood in Sussex and was educated at Haileybury. Leaving there one Friday at the age of seventeen, he went into the theatre the following Monday and has been working in it ever since as, variously, a stage manager, sound technician, scene painter, prop-maker, actor, writer and director. These last two talents he developed thanks to his mentor, Stephen Joseph, whom he first met in 1958 upon joining his newly formed Studio Theatre Company in Scarborough. A BBC Radio Drama Producer from 1965 to 1970, upon the death of Stephen Joseph, he returned to Scarborough to become the company's Artistic Director. He holds the post to this day, though the theatre is now named after its founder. He is the author of over fifty plays, most of which received their first performance at this Yorkshire theatre, were he spends the greater part of the year directing other people's work. More than half of his plays have subsequently been produced in the West End, at the Royal National Theatre or at the Royal Shakespeare Company. They have been translated into over thirty languages, are seen on stage and television throughout the world, and have received many national and international awards. Alan Ayckbourn was appointed a CBE in 1987 and in 1997 became to first playwright knighted since Terence Rattigan. He lives in London.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Faber & Faber; 1st edition (May 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571197876
• ISBN-13: 978-0571197873
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,226,294 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Comic Potential" is masterful and thoughtful!, April 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Comic Potential: A Play (Paperback)

Real life situations, classic characters, and a futuristic twist make readers as well as audiences wonder what the future will bring. This has got to be my favorite Ayckbourn play yet. It is also a great acting tool because you see the play through the eyes of the playwright. However, it may not be appropriate for young readers do to adult language and situations.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A smart, funny sci-fi comedy, October 6, 2002

By 

Michael J. Mazza - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Comic Potential: A Play (Paperback)

"Comic Potential," by Alan Ayckbourn, represents a species of literature that I don't believe I have ever before encountered: a science fiction comedy for the stage. The opening pages note that the play was first performed at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough in 1998, and was then presented in London in 1999. A brief author bio notes that the London-born Ayckbourn has had a distinguished career in the British theater.

The book version's back cover notes that this play takes place "in the forseeable future." In this future world human actors have apparently been replaced by acting robots known as "actoids," which are programmed by technical specialists. Early in the play a young writer named Alan meets an actoid in whom he sees a potential for comedy. Alan's plans, and his relationship with his robotic protegee, drive the plot forward and complicate the lives of many characters.

This is a funny and thought-provoking play that combines comedy and mild suspense. Ayckbourn offers a fascinating glimpse at a culture which, because of the presence of human-like robots, has evolved its own set of new social protocols and prejudices. Clever dialogue and well-written characters further add to the impact of this entertaining, and surprisingly moving, text.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun with the Future, April 30, 2002

By 

Bepaluna (Delaware) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Comic Potential: A Play (Paperback)

I admire Ayckbourns' work and this reminded me of one of his best plays; "Communicating Doors". It's funny, sad and hopeful and I'd love to see it performed. The man is a true genius and thankfully he's prolific as well!