From left, Joy Waldron, Bradley Thoennes and Leigh Williams have an existential experience in a bakery in Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread, one of six comedies in David Ives' All in the Timing at the Center for Theatre Arts Oct. 24-27 and Oct. 30-Nov. 3. Charles Harrington/University Photography
The Center for Theatre Arts presents a collection of one-act comedies in its second theater production of the season. Contemporary American playwright David Ives has crafted a fine-tuned showcase of the intricacies of language in All in the Timing: Six One-Act Comedies, which was first presented at Primary Stages (Casey Childs, artistic director) in New York City in December 1993. All in the Timing opens at the CTA on Oct. 24 and runs through Nov. 3.
"This collection of comedies is really about the mis-timing and misinterpreting of language," said the show's director, Neal Freeman '97. "Misusing words can cause trouble or create humorous situations for the characters," he added, "and yet the only way out of the whole mess is to use the very tool that created it in the first place -- language."
Collectively, All in the Timing shows that absurdity and lunacy are an integral part of life -- but it is hope that, in the end, always reigns supreme.
Director Freeman brings to the stage a broad range of experiences: He most recently directed last season's Black Box Laboratory production of Interview; his first full-length play, Robin Hood and the Outlaws of Sherwood, was produced in Maryland in June 1996.
Production credits go to: Cynthia Ann Orr Brookhouse, costume design; Kent Goetz, scene design; Daniel C. Hall, lighting design; Chuck Hatcher, sound design; Wendy Freeman, stage manager.
The cast features six actors who each play a variety of roles, and includes two resident professional teaching associates: Bradley Thoennes, who has lived and worked in Philadelphia and its theaters for the past nine years, and Missy Thibodeaux, a New York City actress who was most recently seen in Judy Sheehan's one-act See Jane Run at the Theatre Studio Inc. The other performers are: Joy Waldron, a junior theater major with past appearances in CTA productions and other campus and community theater performances; and Sam Gold, Michael Schiffer and Leigh Williams, students making their CTA debuts.
All in the Timing opens Thursday, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m. in the Class of '56 Flexible Theatre. Evening performances continue Friday-Sunday, Oct. 25-27, and Wednesday-Saturday, Oct. 30-Nov. 2, at 8 p.m. Matinees are at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27, and Saturday-Sunday, Nov. 2-3.
Tickets are $8; $6 for students and seniors, and are available at the CTA box office, 430 College Avenue. For tickets, call 254-ARTS between 12:30 and 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, or one hour before performances.
A talk-back with the cast and production crew will be held immediately following the Oct. 31 performance.