Comedians is a play by Trevor Griffiths, set in a Manchester evening school in a working-class neighborhood, for aspiring comedians, and contains political undertones. It was written for the theatre, and first appeared in 1975 at London's National Theatre with Jonathan Pryce and directed by Richard Eyre, and on BBC television starring Bill Fraser as the teacher.
The play came to Broadway in the 1976/77 season, and ran at the Music Box for 145 performances. The production was recast for Broadway. Milo O'Shea played the teacher, and it made a star of Jonathan Pryce, who was the only British actor brought over. He won the Tony for Best Featured Actor in a play. Notable is the fact that among the understudies were Armand Assante, John Clark, and towards the end of the run Ted Danson. It was directed by Mike Nichols, who was nominated for the Tony as Best Director of a play.
