“All in the Timing” a manifest of emotions

The world of David Ives is an ever-changing maelstrom of language, place and time.

How can one be in New York and Philadelphia at the same time? How can a language barrier help a relationship? And what does one do with a mountain climber’s axe smashed into one’s skull? These are questions Ives poses and answers in “All in the Timing”, a collection of five confusing and enlightening one-act plays performed in the Russell Auditorium on September 30 through October 3, under the direction of Marlene Johnson.

Despite working with extremely difficult material, Johnson was able to pull veteran and beginning actors together into a largely successful production which introduced audiences to the world of David Ives.

The set design, lighting and costumes were all perfectly designed to place emphasis on the performances.

The sketches, “Sure Thing” and “Philadelphia”, were the least challenging of the five and, consequently, involved some of the novice actors. Brian Jones did a decent job as the bumbling bachelor, Bill, but was outshined by his co-star Lauren Boyd. Some of the more long-winded monologues were a bit rushed and a few punch lines landed out of sync, but these mistakes were very few and far between and didn’t detract much from the skit’s overall enjoyability.

“Philadelphia” was a bit more comedic in its material, but was acted equally well by Brian Jones and Matt White.

The best performances were showcased in the sketches, “Universal Language” and “Variations on the Death of Trotsky”.

In “Universal Language”, Jon Hurley played the “Unamunda” language instructor, Don, and was arguably the best actor of the night. His ability to express meaning in the light of such confusing dialogue was exceptional as he commanded the stage over his co-star, Kelly Gold. Although some of her monologues were a bit over dramatic at times, she was still able to carry the scene with Hurley and make the sketch one of the most memorable of the evening.

“Variations on the Death of Trotsky” was the brilliant finale to the production. It expressed a culmination of all of David Ives’ themes. It was silly, romantic, outlandish, sad and inspiring all at the same time. Nick Thomson performed extremely well and was in very good company. Kate Bean and Taylor Roy both contributed some of the finer performances of the evening.

GC&SU’s production of “All in the Timing” was a success because of the many talented people that were involved. The modest set design, the speed of the production crew, and the gusto of its performers were all exemplary.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 8 2004. Filed under Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry