When I was released from UVic’s Phoenix Theatre after last night’s presentation of Comic Potential, I was elated. British playwright Alan Ayckbourn has woven together three solid staples for Valentine’s Day: humour, love, and just the right amount of insanity.
Although written in 1998, Comic Potential involves a timeless issue: can one properly fall in love with a robot? Or is it just artificial?
The play has an engaging plot: set in a near future, the audience is introduced to a movie set, and will soon realize that the actors on set are robot actors called “actoids.” Adam (Ciaran Volke), the nephew of the big shot who owns the TV company, is a typical target for Valentine’s Day drama—he’s quiet, impressionable, and lonely. When Adam meets fembot actoid Jacie Triplethree (Una Rekic), he’s immediately drawn to her. And why not? She’s beautiful, funny, and intelligent, and she sports a lovable glitch that consists of her bursting out into gales of laughter at inopportune moments. In fact, she has been labelled as “defective” and it’s made clear that she’ll be melted down by the ruthless and savage studio director, Carla Pepperbloom (Sarah Hunsberger), if Adam doesn’t rush in an save her from the certain clutches of evil.
Bearing all this in mind, it’s easy to think that Comic Potential is a light-hearted production, full of good, wholesome spirit, but lacking in depth. Not true. Throughout the story, Adam and Jacie discover their love for each other, while learning how to make that work—after all, they’re from different species. Both have to fight all sorts of quirks and idiosyncrasies in order to find how they meld.
There are many moments of hilarity, such as when Jacie uses her charms reciting old soap-opera plots in order to distract from the fact that she and Adam have run away together. Volke and Rekic are vey good, but Rekic really dazzles, enveloping whoever is watching in her web of authenticity and vulnerability.
The set, designed by Leah Anthony, is as impressive as the acting, with clean-cut corners, vibrant colours and sharp lines. And it’s easy to tell that Misty Buxton’s costume designs are thought through carefully in order to achieve a perfect mix of Hollywood glamour and hipster chic.
Comic Potential is a Valentine’s Day must-see. It’s screamingly funny and even sports a fantastic swing dancing scene between human and fembot. Best it all, it contains the age-old conflict of true love fighting obstacles.
Don’t lose faith in love—even a human being and an automaton can make it work.
Comic Potential
Various times, until Saturday, February 22
Various prices, Phoenix Theatre
finearts.uvic.ca/theatre/mainstage