The Electric Man

Walter Everest, chemist and electrician, has built a mechanical man. It looks exactly like him. His plan: send the automaton to impersonate himself at a dinner party and scare off the gentleman courting his stepmother. What could go wrong? Everything, of course. This is a farce, after all, and Hannan knows exactly how to wind up the clockwork and let it fly apart. The automaton malfunctions, identities tangle like Christmas lights, and Walter's desperate scheme becomes a spectacular disaster. Written in the early 20th century when electricity was still miraculous and machines seemed to promise a brave new world, the play channels that technological wonder into pure comic chaos. It's slight, it's speedy, and it's utterly unafraid to be ridiculous. The comedy of errors tradition meets the age of invention in a one-act that moves like clockwork and lands like a punchline.