Overview
Synopsis
Featuring six diverse but equally hysterical one-act comedies, David Ives’ All in the Timing is a witty, romantic, absurd, and existentially-minded evening of theatre. In Sure Thing, a couple on a first date has the opportunity to reset and try again each time they say the wrong thing. Words, Words, Words takes the “infinite monkey theorem”-- the idea that given enough time, three monkeys in a room could eventually compose any given text, including Shakespeare’s Hamlet -- and turns it into reality. In The Universal Language, a shy young woman places her faith in her fraudulent language tutor, who is changed for the better when he discovers is the language they share: not the the made-up “Unamunda” professes to be fluent in, but rather the language of love. Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread is an existential mini-musical parody based on the work of composer Philip Glass. In The Philadelphia, a man discovers that he’s entered a strange pocket of the universe where the only way to get what he wants is to ask for the opposite. Finally, in Variations on the Death of Leon Trotsky, the audience is treated to the hilarious vision of the famous Marxist waxing poetical -- and dying, over and over and over again.
Notes: A recent republishing of All in the Timing features an additional 8 one-acts. All casting can be doubled or not, and each one-act can be performed in any order, on its own or together with others.
Show Information
- Book
- David Ives
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
- Number of Acts
- 1
- First Produced
- 1993
- Genres
- Comedy
- Time & Place
- various, bar/restaurant, bakery, small office turned into a classroom, a room with a tire swing, cafe, leon trotsky's study on august 20 (1940)
- Cast Size
- large
- Licensor
- Dramatists Play Service
- Ideal For
- Mostly Male Cast, Includes Young Adult, Adult, Late Teen, Mature Adult Characters, Large Cast
Context
Plot
Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
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|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
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|
Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Lead |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
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|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
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|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Female |
Spoken |
|
|
Supporting |
Male |
Spoken |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
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Videos
Quizzes
Themes, Symbols & Motifs
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Quote Analysis
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