WRITERS RUN AMOK WHEN
IMAGINATION TAKES OVER THE ROOM

A nimble, high-energy ensemble comedy that turns
creative frustration into gleeful theatrical chaos

As hilarious today as it was when it debuted 21 years ago, Alan Ayckbourn’s Improbable Fiction is enjoying a terrific run at Masquers Playhouse in Point Richmond.

Director Angela Mason draws a crisply timed, high-energy performance from a diverse and well-balanced cast. The theater’s compact stage proves an ideal setting for this seven-character comedy, all of it unfolding in the living room of Arnold (C. Conrad Cady), an instruction manual writer who leads a group of would-be authors eager to hone their craft—and, to a point, endure feedback from one another.

An unseen but pivotal presence is Arnold’s bedridden mother, who makes her needs known by banging on the upstairs floor. More visibly essential is Arnold’s housekeeper—and his mother’s caretaker—Ilsa (Atessa McAleenan-Morrell), a bright and appealing presence who opens and closes both acts and holds the assembled writers in unjustifiably high esteem.

Among the group, Clem (Tyler Scott Null) is an intense young man with a high, squeaky voice, devoted to producing hopelessly convoluted science fiction while mangling the language (“umbiquitous” instead of “ubiquitous”). Jess (Lori Mrochinski) adores Victorian romance novels but has yet to write one; Vivi (Anna Kosiarek) struggles unsuccessfully with a 1930s-style detective story; and Grace (Alicia von Kugelgen) dreams up children’s tales about a tiny elf named Doblin the Goblin—complete with charming illustrations but no discernible plot.

Rounding out this gallery of creative frustration is Bevis (Simon Patton), a retired schoolmaster who insists he is a successful musical theater writer, having staged several shows at his school. Assertive to the point of exasperation, he has little patience for the others’ ineptitude. His extended rant on the stupidity of the Internet is nearly matched by his hilariously earnest piano number about light at the end of the tunnel, inspired by The Pilgrim’s Progress.

The first act establishes the group’s limitations and simmering irritations—a wry study in interpersonal comedy. When they reconvene in Act Two, the play gleefully explodes: characters from their various unfinished stories invade Arnold’s world in a wildly funny collision of genres—hard-boiled detectives, swooning Victorian romantics, and low-budget sci-fi oddities all competing for narrative control.

Ann Byrd’s exuberant costumes add enormously to the escalating farce—if not literal slamming doors, then certainly the sense of them crashing through Arnold’s increasingly overwhelmed imagination. The evening caps off with a delightful visual flourish as McAleenan-Morrell returns in a brief cameo, with little Doblin paddling off in an oversized walnut shell—an inspired creation by John Maio and Joyce Thrift.

The ensemble’s comic timing and command of assorted British accents remain sharp and engaging throughout. Improbable Fiction emerges as a thoroughly entertaining production from one of the Bay Area’s longest-running yet often under-the-radar theater companies—and it earns a well-deserved spot on any local theatergoer’s must-see list.

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

photos courtesy of Masquers

Improbable Fiction
Masquers Playhouse, 105 Park Place in Point Richmond
Fri and Sat at 8; Sun at 2; Thurs at 8 (Feb. 12)
ends on March 1, 2026
for tickets, call 510.232.4031 or visit Masquers

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Barry Willis is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and president of the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle.