''Ancient History'' 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 wri ...

written by American playwright

David Ives David Ives (born July 11, 1950) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is perhaps best known for his comic one-act plays; ''The New York Times'' in 1997 referred to him as the "maestro of the short form". Ives has also written ...

Production

''Ancient History'' premiered Off-Broadway in May 1989 in a production by

Primary Stages Primary Stages was founded in 1984 by Casey Childs as an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company. In 2004, Primary Stages moved from its 99-seat home of 17 years at Davenport Theatre, 354 West 45th Street to the 199-seat theater at 59E59 Theat ...

, with direction by Jason McConnell Buzas and the cast of Beth McDonald and Christopher Wells.Ives, David
Script
''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 John Rando is an American stage director who won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for ''Urinetown the Musical'' in 2002. He received his 2nd nomination in the same category in 2015 for the 2014 Broadway revival of '' On the Town''. ...

and a cast of Vivienne Benesch and

Michael Rupert Michael John Rupert (born October 23, 1951, Denver, Colorado) is an American actor, singer, director and composer. In 1968 he made his Broadway debut in '' The Happy Time'' as Bibi Bonnard for which he received a Tony Award nomination and the ...

.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 Johan August Strindberg (, ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than sixty p ...

with yuks … the dialogue is crunchy and saucy sthese lovers are buffeted about circularly, hilariously, and scarily.”Ives, David
Script
''Ancient History'', Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1996, , pp2-3

Plot

The play opens with the ominous ringing of an off-stage telephone. As the lights come up Ruth and Jack, a couple in their mid-thirties, are dancing in their apartment. The telephone rings again, the couple stops, the music backs up a few measures and they begin to dance. Ruth and Jack dance on and converse about what a good time they are having; after a few lines the telephone rings, the music backs up a few measures and the conversation also goes back a few lines and this time changes direction. A few lines go by and the phone rings again, and the conversation once more rewinds and restarts, yet again changing focus. This pattern of rewinding and restarting the conversation in a different vein continues throughout the play whenever the unseen telephone rings. This convention is similar to the bell ringing in Ives's previous work ''Sure Thing'' (one of six plays in the collection ''

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 publis ...

''). As the play progresses the audience learns that the couple is in a tenuous state in their relationship and the happiness seen as the play opens is not the prevalent mood. Ruth is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

; Jack is a former

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. Ruth believes in hard work and success; Jack is lazy and has no goals. Ruth desperately wants to be married; Jack hates the idea of marriage. With each ring of the phone, the love affair dissolves into a more intense argument about religion, the future or marriage; however, this does not prevent a build-up of hope with each ring that perhaps the couple may work out their differences and come to an agreement. At one point Ruth and Jack even switch positions: Jack argues for marriage, Ruth argues against it, and it is this final argument that leads to the dissolution of their relationship. After a slew of “fuck you’s” from Jack and “leave’s” from Ruth, the two realize they can no longer be together, but they also do not know how to function without one another. The play ends with a final phone ring and the couple beginning to dance as they did in the start of the play.

References

{{Reflist Plays by David Ives