Abstract
Android Versus Humans in Alan Ayckbourn’s Comic Potential
In recent years, science fiction has been attracted by researchers but this trend has not expanded to literature. There are many playwrights who fall into the category of science fiction as Robert Anderson, Edward Bond, John Guare, David Henry Hwang, Sam Shepard, J.B. Priestly and Alan Ayckbourn. But despite the fame of their authors, they seemed to have little or no connection to the science fiction community. Rarely has a science fiction writer embraced by this community ventured into theatre, and rarely has science fiction playwriting aroused interest among science fiction audiences. Thus, the aim of this study is to explore that the door is still opened to a new dimension of the theatre which will raise playwriting above the ordinary. This idea is through Alan Ayckbourn’s (1939- ) science fiction play Comic Potential (1999). His play illustrates Ayckbourn’s innovation of new methods and ideas that take place in the future and beyond expectation. It explains how Ayckbourn skillfully deals with comedy in order to stir both laughter and bewilderment of his audience.
Key Words: Science fiction, Humanity, Tradition Literature, Comic Potential, Imagination.