Story courtesy of Asbury Marketing & Communications
Asbury’s second fall theater performance “All in the Timing” opened this past weekend and will continue through this coming weekend. The collection of one-act plays written by David Ives is directed by Theatre & Cinema Performance Program Coordinator Jeff Day and assistant director, sophomore Alli Acuff.
The series of short plays don’t directly relate to one another; however, they do explore similar themes.
“The scenes really focus on the relationships people have with each other and the effect we can have on others’ lives,” Acuff said.
Senior Alex Heath plays multiple roles in the show and agrees that the diversity of the scenes and the deeper meaning they explore are a big part of what will attract people to the performance.
“I think people will enjoy this show because it’s really funny but it also talks about serious themes, like marriage and commitment,” Heath said.
This humor is what makes the play challenging as well as entertaining for both the audience and the actors.
“Doing comedy isn’t easy to begin with, and some of the scenes get pretty ridiculous. Not breaking character to laugh with the audience is a great exercise in focus,” Heath said.
Some of the more ridiculous scenes include the opening scene where the actors portray monkeys writing Hamlet, an entire scene in a made up language and a scene that reenacts variations of the death of the Russian Soviet Politian Leon Trotsky.
Another appealing aspect of the show is the simplicity of the set. The stage is designed to look like a giant clock with a table in the middle and a chalkboard. The actors use props to enhance the scenes; however, the stage itself is quite simple. This allows the audience to focus on the acting and the plot more than an extravagant set.
“‘All in the Timing’ is comedic, fast-paced, and the humor is very intelligent. Asburians are all quite smart, so they’ll understand a lot of the humor in the show,” Acuff said.
For tickets, contact Donna Flannigan at the Asbury box office or purchase at the door on Thursday or Saturday before the show at 7:30 p.m.