''Words, Words, Words'' is a

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 writi ...

written by David Ives for his collection of six one-act plays, ''

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 publish ...

''. The play is about Kafka, Milton, and Swift, three intelligent chimpanzees who are put in a cage together under the experimenting eye of a never seen Dr. Rosenbaum, a scientist testing the hypothesis that three apes hitting keys at random on typewriters for an infinite amount of time will almost surely produce

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' (a variation on the

infinite monkey theorem The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type any given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare. In fact, the monkey would ...

). The show's title is a phrase quoted from ''Hamlet''. The performance comprises the ape characters humorously confronting and conversing with each other in order to understand the purpose of the exercise put upon them. Although clearly a comedy, the ending tone of the play can differ much from production to production, and generally will depend on the actor's (and director's) interpretation of the Swift character. Swift drives the action, with his rebellion to Dr. Rosenbaum and his experiment, with Milton acting as either a friend or antagonist trying to convince Swift to go along with and use the system. (Swift: "Why are you so god-damned ready to justify the ways of Rosenbaum to the apes?") The portrayal of Swift is always different, but generally falls into either tragic or comic territory. If Swift's plans for revenge are portrayed comically, then they point out the folly of Hamlet's plan to ensnare the King, deepening the parody of Shakespeare's most celebrated work. If performed dramatically, the play leaves Swift as the tragic hero, a Cassandra figure unappreciated by his colleagues, going mad in captivity. In either case, Kafka ends the play on a notion of hope, as she is the one who spontaneously begins to successfully type the opening lines of ''Hamlet'', comically juxtaposed against Swift who merely ponders in silence and Milton who aimlessly types the words "hemorrhoid", "pomegranate", and "bazooka".

Characters

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

is the most realistic of the three; he knows what has to be done and knows how to do it. The rough draft on his typewriter involves the opening lines from ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...

'' (written by

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

in 1667), though it concludes with nonsensical words. * Swift (also called "Swifty") is ambitious and something of a rebel. He figures out far-fetched plans to break out of the cage, despite Milton's sarcastic and annoyed discouragement. He is the most philosophical, though his writing reflects only utter nonsense. * Kafka (also called "Franz") is the dreamer. She has only managed to press one button on her typewriter repeatedly, and has done so for twenty lines. She likes to put her two cents in, but rarely uses very big words. Kafka plays the naïf (and is the only female of the trio), agreeing that the experiment is stupid, but hoping for a great reward if she succeeds. By the end of the play, she begins to type the first act of ''Hamlet'' after being inspired by Swift's suggestion to poison Dr. Rosenbaum.

Productions

''Words, Words, Words'' premiered in January 1987, in the Manhattan Punch Line Theatre in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It starred Warren Keith as Milton, Christopher Fields as Swift, and Helen Greenberg as Kafka. It was combined with other plays such as '' Sure Thing'' and ''

Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread ''Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread'' is a one-act play by David Ives, published as part of his 1994 ''All In The Timing'' collection. Production history The play was first produced at the Manhattan Punch Line Theatre in New York City, January 19 ...

'' in a production of six one-act plays, comprising ''

'',

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

at Primary Stages, running from November 1993 to February 1994. Daniel Hagen played the role of Milton, Robert Stanton played Swift, and Nancy Opel played Kafka. ''All in the Timing'' was revived at Primary Stages in 2013.Brantley, Ben
"Theater Review. 'All in the Timing,' by David Ives, at 59E59 Theaters"
''The New York Times'', February 12, 2013 Along with '' Sure Thing'' and ''

The Philadelphia ''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 publis ...

'', ''Words, Words, Words'' is one of the one-acts which is almost always included in productions of ''

''. (Recent printings of ''All in the Timing'' include upwards of twenty separate plays.)

References

External links

''All in the Timing'', 1993
Internet Off-Broadway Database
''All in the Timing'', 2013
Internet Off-Broadway Database * * * {{Works by David Ives Plays by David Ives 1987 plays One-act plays