Comic Potential: A Play
by Alan Ayckbourn
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alan AyckbournEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-05-29
ISBN: 0571197876
Number of pages: 96
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Book Reviews of Comic Potential: A Play
Book Review: A smart, funny sci-fi comedy
Summary: 5 Stars
"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 In this future world human actors have apparently been replaced by acting robots known as "actoids," which are programmed by technical specialists.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.
Summary of Comic Potential: A Play
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.
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.
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