The Straight Man by John Finnemore A serious play about being funny It's 1958. For as long as anyone can remember, variety, and its predecessor music hall, have entertained the nation. From the London Palladium to the Liverpool Palace, from Max Miller to Morecombe and Wise, the dazzling jamboree of multi-skilled live performers has been an institution as solid as it is versatile. But now a brash new medium is changing everything. The country is turning on its televisions and turning away from variety.

In the dingy dressing room of the Palace Theatre, Stoke Newington, double act Drumney and Kier await another half-full first house. Once they were rising stars who looked certain to make it to the top, with Andrew Kier's effortlessly funny ad-libbing and Wallace Drumney's obsessive precision as straight man. Now they're playing second billing to a stripper at a second-rate theatre.

But in tonight’s audience is a young man with a ticket to stardom. He's a TV producer with visions of a new comedy show. Just one problem: he doesn't want a double act. They don't need a straight man. He only wants Kier…

The Straight Man investigates what it costs to make us laugh, and explores the unique relationship that makes double acts so remarkable - and so prone to self-destruction.