All in the Timing

All in the Timing is a collection of one-act plays by the American playwright David Ives, written between 1987 and 1993. It had its premiere Off-Broadway in 1993 at Primary Stages,[1] and was revived at Primary Stages in 2013.[2] It was first published by Dramatists Play Service in 1994, with a collection of six plays; however, the updated collection contains fourteen. The short plays are almost all comedies (or comedy-dramas), focusing mainly on language and wordplay, existentialist perspectives on life and meaning, and the complications involved in romantic relationships. High-school and college students frequently perform the plays, often due to their brevity and undemanding staging requirements.

The Original Six Plays[3]

Other plays

Critical response

The reviewer of the 2013 revival wrote: "...two decades later, these carefully constructed sketches, which highlight Ives' fascination with language, are still to be savored. Even when they occasionally miss their mark or wear out their welcome, the skits put most of the recent writing of Saturday Night Live to shame.... you don't have to be a great intellectual to fully appreciate any of the show's pieces. Certainly not the delicious opener, 'Sure Thing,' in which two strangers (Elrod and Rooth) replay their first meeting in a café with dozens of small changes until a romantic connection is forged..."[4]

Notes

  1. All in the Timing primarystages.org, accessed February 6, 2014
  2. Brantley, Ben. "Theater Review. 'All in the Timing,' by David Ives, at 59E59 Theaters" The New York Times, February 12, 2013
  3. All in the Timing dramatists.com, accessed February 8, 2014
  4. Lipton, Brian Scott. "Review. 'All in the Timing' " theatermania.com, February 12, 2013

References


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