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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, and was revived at Primary Stages in 2013. 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, as well as 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 *'' Sure Thing'': A man and a woman meet for the first time in a cafe, where they have an awkward meeting continually reset each time they say the wrong thing, until, finally, they romantically connect. *''Words, Words, Words'': Three chimpanzees, named afte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sure Thing (play)
''Sure Thing'' is a short comic play by David Ives featuring a chance meeting of two characters, Betty and Bill, whose conversation is continually reset by the use of a ringing bell, starting over when one of them responds negatively to the other. The play was first produced in 1988, and was published in 1994. Synopsis The play begins with Bill approaching Betty in a café, asking "Is this chair taken?" To which she replies "Yes." The bell rings and Bill repeats his question to which Betty says, "No, but I'm expecting somebody in a minute." The bell rings again, and Bill poses his question again. This process continues until Bill is finally allowed to take a seat. The bell acts as a buffer against all topics of conversation that are potentially negative to building their relationship, allowing them to try another line. By the end of the play, their initial differences in opinion (i.e. literature, movie tastes, romance) have reversed to become perfect companions. Both of them ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Variations On The Death Of Trotsky
''Variations on the Death of Trotsky'' is a short one-act comedy-drama written by David Ives for the series of one-act plays titled ''All in the Timing''. The play fictionalizes the death of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky through a number of distinct variations, though all from the same, historically accurate cause: a wound to the head by an ice axe—referred to in the play as a "mountain-climber's axe", for comic effect, to distinguish it from an icepick. Overview While keeping with the tradition and style of Ives's plays of taking an odd conceit and playing it for laughs as the audience finds its feet before giving the big payoff, ''Variations'' is distinguished, along with ''Words, Words, Words'' and ''Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread'' in that, while it begins comically, it may end either comically or dramatically, depending on the production. It is unique in that, of all of his works, it calls the most for an unexpectedly tragic, sentimental ending. Arguably, it is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
One-act Play
A one-act play is a play that has only one act, as distinct from plays that occur over several acts. One-act plays may consist of one or more scenes. The 20-40 minute play has emerged as a popular subgenre of the one-act play, especially in writing competitions. One act plays make up the overwhelming majority of Fringe Festival shows including at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The origin of the one-act play may be traced to the very beginning of recorded Western drama: in ancient Greece, '' Cyclops'', a satyr play by Euripides, is an early example. The satyr play was a farcical short work that came after a trilogy of multi-act serious drama plays. A few notable examples of one act plays emerged before the 19th century including various versions of the Everyman play and works by Moliere and Calderon.Francis M. Dunn. ''Tragedy's End: Closure and Innovation in Euripidean Drama''. Oxford University Press (1996). One act plays became more common in the 19th century and are now a stand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up from repetitive phrases and shifting layers. Glass describes himself as a composer of "music with repetitive structures", which he has helped evolve stylistically. Glass founded the Philip Glass Ensemble, with which he still performs on keyboards. He has written fifteen operas, numerous chamber operas and musical theatre works, fourteen symphony, symphonies, twelve concertos, nine string quartets and various other chamber music, and several film scores. Three of his film scores have been nominated for an Academy Award. Life and work 1937–1964: Beginnings, early education and influences Philip Glass was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on January 31, 1937, the son of Ida (née Gouline) and Benjamin Charles Glass. His family were Lithuanian Je ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient History (play)
''Ancient History'' is a one-act play written by American playwright David Ives. Production ''Ancient History'' premiered Off-Broadway in May 1989 in a production by Primary Stages, with direction by Jason McConnell Buzas and the cast of Beth McDonald and Christopher Wells.Ives, DavidScript''Ancient History'', Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1996, , pp2-3 A revised edition was presented Off-Broadway by Primary Stages in June 1996, with direction by John Rando and a cast of Vivienne Benesch and Michael Rupert.Brantley, Ben"THEATER REVIEW;A Simply Charming Couple Headed for a Dead End"''The New York Times'', May 22, 1996 ''New York Magazine'' describes ''Ancient History'' as “a genuine achievement sIves spins a dance that is Strindberg with yuks … the dialogue is crunchy and saucy sthese lovers are buffeted about circularly, hilariously, and scarily.”Ives, DavidScript''Ancient History'', Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1996, , pp2-3 Plot The play opens with the ominous ringin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained critical acclaim for a trio of off-Broadway 1970s plays: ''The Duck Variations'', ''Sexual Perversity in Chicago'', and ''American Buffalo (play), American Buffalo''. His plays ''Race (play), Race'' and ''The Penitent (play), The Penitent'', respectively, opened on Broadway theater, Broadway in 2009 and previewed off-Broadway in 2017. Feature films that Mamet both wrote and directed include ''House of Games'' (1987), ''Homicide (1991 film), Homicide'' (1991), ''The Spanish Prisoner'' (1997), and his biggest commercial success, ''Heist (2001 film), Heist'' (2001). His screenwriting credits include ''The Postman Always Rings Twice (1981 film), The Postman Always Rings Twice'' (1981), ''The Verdict'' (1982), ''The Untouchables (film), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
English Made Simple
''English Made Simple'' is a 1994 short play by David Ives. Plot ''English Made Simple'' is the story of a couple named Jack and Jill who meet at a party. As the night progresses, it becomes apparent that the two knew each other, and were even involved romantically, before this night at the party. Meanwhile, a college English professor, whose name is never announced but written as the "Loudspeaker Voice" in the script, explains what the couple is ''really'' thinking as they talk to each other. It is an extremely wordy romantic comedy full of twists and turns. It is one of David Ives's better known plays. Productions ''English Made Simple'' premiered at the Seattle Repertory Theatre in April 1994, directed by Bill Irwin with Liz McCarthy as Jill and R. Hamilton Wright as Jack, and John Aylward as the Loudspeaker Voice. The play was produced by Primary Stages in May 1996, as part of a double bill with Ives' play '' Ancient History'', directed by John Rando. Ben Brantley, in hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child and youngest daughter of Empress Maria Theresa and Emperor Francis I. She became dauphine of France in May 1770 at age 14 upon her marriage to Louis-Auguste, heir apparent to the French throne. On 10 May 1774, her husband ascended the throne as Louis XVI and she became queen. Marie Antoinette's position at court improved when, after eight years of marriage, she started having children. She became increasingly unpopular among the people, however, with the French ''libelles'' accusing her of being profligate, promiscuous, allegedly having illegitimate children, and harboring sympathies for France's perceived enemies—particularly her native Austria. The false accusations of the Affair of the Diamond Necklace damaged her reputation further ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicholas II
Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland, ruling from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. During his reign, Nicholas gave support to the economic and political reforms promoted by his prime ministers, Sergei Witte and Pyotr Stolypin. He advocated modernization based on foreign loans and close ties with France, but resisted giving the new parliament (the Duma) major roles. Ultimately, progress was undermined by Nicholas's commitment to autocratic rule, strong aristocratic opposition and defeats sustained by the Russian military in the Russo-Japanese War and World War I. By March 1917, public support for Nicholas had collapsed and he was forced to abdicate the throne, thereby ending the Romanov dynasty's 304-year rule of Russia (16 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the term—a ruler with the same rank as a Roman emperor, holding it by the approval of another emperor or a supreme ecclesiastical official (the Pope or the Ecumenical Patriarch)—but was usually considered by western Europeans to be equivalent to "king". It lends its name to a system of government, tsarist autocracy or tsarism. "Tsar" and its variants were the official titles of the following states: * Bulgarian Empire (First Bulgarian Empire in 681–1018, Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185–1396), and also used in Tsardom of Bulgaria, in 1908–1946 * Serbian Empire, in 1346–1371 * Tsardom of Russia, in 1547–1721 (replaced in 1721 by ''imperator'' in Russian Empire, but still remaining in use, also officially in relation to several regi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lindbergh Baby
On March 1, 1932, Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr. (born June 22, 1930), the 20-month-old son of aviators Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh, was abducted from his crib in the upper floor of the Lindberghs' home, Highfields, in East Amwell, New Jersey, United States. On May 12, the child's corpse was discovered by a truck driver by the side of a nearby road. In September 1934, a German immigrant carpenter named Bruno Richard Hauptmann was arrested for the crime. After a trial that lasted from January 2 to February 13, 1935, he was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. Despite his conviction, he continued to profess his innocence, but all appeals failed and he was executed in the electric chair at the New Jersey State Prison on April 3, 1936. Newspaper writer H. L. Mencken called the kidnapping and trial "the biggest story since the Resurrection". Legal scholars have referred to the trial as one of the " trials of the century". The crime spurr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue-collar
A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and power plant operations, electrical construction and maintenance, custodial work, farming, commercial fishing, logging, landscaping, pest control, food processing, oil field work, waste collection and disposal, recycling, construction, maintenance, shipping, driving, trucking and many other types of physical work. Blue-collar work often involves something being physically built or maintained. In contrast, the white-collar worker typically performs work in an office environment and may involve sitting at a computer or desk. A third type of work is a service worker (pink collar) whose labor is related to customer interaction, entertainment, sales or other service-oriented work. Many occupations blend blue, white, or pink-collar work and are oft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
