By Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by John P. Kelly
Oct 1‒10, 2026 at The Gladstone Theatre
Preview Sep 30; Opening Night Oct 1; Pay-What-You-Can Oct 6
Tues-Sat 7:30pm + 2:30pm matinees Saturdays and Sunday
Tickets through www.thegladstone.ca
farcical • comedic • cybernetic
Blade Runner… but it’s The Office.
Comedic genius Alan Ayckbourn provides a farcical hot take on AI-generated love.
Alan Ayckbourn is back at the Gladstone—with another North American premiere! Private Fears in Public Places packed audiences in for his cheeky take on 21st-century love and neurosis. Now he’s moved on to the 22nd! You’ll laugh till you cry over his forecasts for cybernetic romance.
Master of farcical comedy Ayckbourn is in top form again—this time with robots! Constant Companions takes a swing at our brave new world of AI, exploring love, technology, and the need for human connection in a world of automated companionship. Set in an all-too-near future where androids are commonplace at home and at work, Ayckbourn guides us with laughter through the burning question facing humanity: can Artificial Intelligence generate true love?
Constant Companions was a hit when it premièred in England in 2023—so recent it’s not even published yet! So Plosive is thrilled to have scored the coup to make Ottawa the first in North America to experience this hot-off-the-press comedy. And as a second coup, we’re thrilled to have lured director John P. Kelly—Ottawa’s undisputed Ayckbourn expert and master of farce—back to the Gladstone to helm this laugh-out-loud production.
(No AI was harmed in the creation of this blurb.)