According to Deadline, the incredibly influential and distinguished early period of Saturday Night Live has been depicted throughout documentaries and narrative films. Now, the stage will get its spotlight with the new play Not Ready For Prime Time, which will debut in October Off Broadway. 

The play is written by Charles A. Sothers (Requiem for Life, In the Deep) and Erik J. Rodriquez (Cathargo, The Queen of Flow) and directed by Conor Bagley (Shining City, Donegal). Not Ready For Prime Time will begin its previews on October 5 at The Newman Mills Theater at The Robert W. Wilson MCC Theater Space. The opening night will take place on October 20, Deadline states. 

Casting for this show has yet to be announced, Deadline adds. 

The producer of Grove House Productions described the play as “a bold, behind-the-scenes look at the launch of one of America’s most iconic shows…From the writers’ room battles to the live-on-air adrenaline, this fast-paced and irreverent play dives into the personalities, clashes, and lightning-in-a-bottle moments that built an American institution,” he said via Deadline. 

Co-writer Rodriquez added: “This is a story about the moment lightning struck,” he stated via Deadline. “These performers didn’t just make comedy — they changed it forever.”

The synopsis of Not Ready For Prime Time delineated: it is set in 1975 and follows nine soon-to-be legends, John Belushi (1941, The Blues Brothers), Gilda Radner (Love, Gilda, The Woman in Red), Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers), Lorne Michaels (30 Rock, Wayne’s World), Chevy Chase (Vacation, Vegas Vacation), Laraine Newman (Love, Gilda, Coneheads), Jane Curtin (Coneheads, Jules), Bill Murray (Groundhog Day, Zombieland), Garrett Morris (The Stuff, Martin), as they go through the creativity, comedy, and chaos that altered the course of television forever. This new play captures the electric atmosphere of this cultural revolution through quick wit, live music, and backstage mayhem, Deadline finally mentions.