Playscript · The play · Production · Stage history · Rights
Play information
Genre: Black comedy · Paranormal thriller
Cast: Five performers — four male roles and one female role
Running time: Approximately 80 minutes, as stated for this English edition.
Complete playscript
The English playscript is available in the published edition of Superpower: a paranormal comedy.
Reading or buying the book does not grant permission to perform the play. Please enquire about performance rights before planning a production.
The play
Synopsis
1974. Jake and Candy Wallace’s small publishing house receives an ultimatum from the bank: pay what they owe or they will be shut down. To pay the couple’s debts, Jake makes the heroic decision to write a bestseller himself. The only problem is that Jake has never written anything in his life. Tensions grow between Jake and Candy, revealing the couple’s most intimate and paranormal secrets.
A paranormal comedy
A peculiar couple causes havoc in a peaceful North American town and unintentionally revolutionises the world of publishing. Black humour, suspense and a plot full of surprises draw on 1970s horror films, superhero comics and the world of Stephen King.
The story unfolds in short scenes, without a break between them. Its cinematic rhythm invites a production in which sound, visual effects and music help carry the action.
Characters and cast
Jake. Male, thirty or older. Anxious and impulsive.
Candy. Female, younger than Jake. Frail-looking.
Barman. Male, older than Jake. Someone to whom people feel they can entrust their most intimate secrets.
Psychiatrist. Male. A know-it-all with an eccentric streak.
Man in the cap. Male. Looks like a serial killer.
Stage space and production
The play is set in 1974, in a small town on the east coast of the United States. The sequence of short scenes calls for quick changes of place and an uninterrupted narrative drive.
Fast transitions
A modular or symbolic set can distinguish the locations while keeping the action moving. The production should preserve the connection between one scene and the next.
A world of 1974
Period objects, costumes and a clear visual language establish the setting. Lighting and sound can distinguish locations and give theatrical form to the paranormal elements.
A cinematic rhythm
Sound effects, visual effects and music are part of the staging possibilities described for the work. Their use should support the storytelling and the shifts between humour and suspense.
Stage history
The work has been staged in Spain and Mexico, in Spanish and Catalan. These productions belong to the wider history of Superpoder; they are not presented here as English-language productions.
The book
Discover the English edition, with its presentation and reading material. The reviews reproduced there concern the original Spanish edition and are presented in translation.
Availability and performance rights
If you would like to stage Superpower, please explain your project, location and proposed dates. Availability and conditions must be confirmed before a production is authorised.