Ben Williamson, Amber McNew, Casey Murphy and Ariel Blue. Photo by Sorcha Augustine.

On March 10, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell made the first intelligible speech transmission to his assistant Thomas Watson via the telephone. Or so the story of the invention of the telephone goes. In reality, Bell had received the first U.S. patent for the telephone three days prior—but the circumstances regarding his “invention” of the telephone are mired in controversy. Italian innovator Antonio Meucci built an early voice-transmitting device, the teletrofono, in 1849. American electrical engineer Elisha Gray filed a patent caveat for a similar invention the same day that Bell applied for his patent.

Gray’s misfortune—and Bell’s success—are the subject of Urbanite Theatre’s first play of its main-stage season, Ahoy-Hoy by Jenny Stafford. The winner of the “Audience Favorite” award at Urbanite’s 2025 Modern Works Festival, Ahoy-Hoy is a Rolling World Premiere with the National New Play Network, making Sarasota audiences some of the first to see the farcical play.

“Sometimes when a play is in the Modern Works Festival or I’ve read it, I’m like, ‘that is an Urbanite play,’” says Summer Wallace, co-founder and producing artistic director of Urbanite Theatre. “Who knew a play about the telephone would be so delightful and so funny and also make you question your own life’s purpose? It’s a play that I’d call unhinged—it’s fast, it’s furious, it’s inventive.”

Ahoy-Hoy follows Gray as he races to create the telephone before Bell. The rival’s mad dash to make history, however, brings the characters through time, taking place both in 1876 and right now. The movement in time accentuates the themes of legacy that pervade the show—a plot device that Wallace maintains adds depth to the comedy. “The play dives into questions of legacy and ego,” she says. “It looks to answer that question—are all the sacrifices you’ve made, all of these quests and dreams of yours—have they made you happy?”

Ahoy-Hoy, Oct 30-Nov 29, Urbanite Theatre, 1487 2nd St., Sarasota.

Ben Williamson, Amber McNew, Casey Murphy and Ariel Blue. Photo by Sorcha Augustine.

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