"All in the Timing" Performance Analysis

All in the Timing Performance Analysis

In All in the Timing, there are 5 one-act mini plays. They are: Sure thing, words, words, words, the universal language, the Philadelphia, and variations on the death of Trotsky: Leon Trotsky. The play I went to see was at the News Journal center in Daytona Beach, FL. During each scene change they had a large clock projected onto the stage and various songs talking about time, for instance one of the songs lyrics was "Time keeps on slipping, slipping, slipping, into the future." The chimps would come out and roll around during the changes as well. In the background of the stage there were giant gear wheels that would only spin during scene changes. Please note that the videos shown are NOT the Daytona version.

Sure Thing

A man and a woman meet for the first time in a cafe, where they have an awkward meeting continually reset each time they say the wrong thing, until, finally, they connect. The conflict is man vs. himself, the man and woman are trying to get to know one another but cant help but say clumsy things. In the play they have the ring of a bell for every wrong thing said and then the man or woman says the sentence over again, but followed by a different response. At first, the man even struggles to sit down at her table. He must ask her over and over again as we the audience listen to her different responses. It is an entertaining and creative way to allow the characters to speak funny short lines of dialogue without it having to be elaborated upon. In the video clip provided the ding! sound is made by surrounding guests in the restaurant, but in the Daytona production the sound is made by a bell. In the center of the stage there is a clock that appears between scene changes. There is only a boy and a girl at the table and no one else, unlike in the video. The only props used are a table and two chairs, along with the book the girl is reading of course.



Words, Words, Words

Three chimps are put into a lab under the watchful eye of a never-seen Dr. Rosenbaum to type on keyboards until they eventually produce Hamlet. The three all have different opinions about their situation. One of the chimps named Swift is the rebel and plans to get out of the cage and seek revenge against the scientists watching him. Milton is the go getter of the group, he wants to write Hamlet and be rewarded for it, the only problem is he doesn't know what Hamlet actually is. Kafka is seemingly the airhead, she pushed one letter, "k", for twenty lines, but eventually she is the one to start Hamlet. In the Daytona version they have only two desks (for Milton and Swift, Kafka doesnt have a desk, her typewriter is on the floor next to a pile of bananas) and a tire swing used in the scene. The chimps use the desks for writing and jumping on (only Milton jumps on the desk) and the tire swing is used only a couple of times, once when Milton jumps on it and the other when Swift pushes it out of the way to show his rebelious nature. Milton is rewarded for acting like a chimp with a cigarette that is lowered down to him on a line from the ceiling.



The Universal Language

When a girl with a speech impediment comes into a language tutoring building she is suprised to learn about the universal language of Unamunda. Taught by a professor who fluently speaks Unamunda and does so all throughout the play, she is at first reluctant, but quickly catches on and falls in love with the language. The language sounds like gibberish and kind of is. It is a combination of made up words and english words. For example, "excuse me" is "squigy" and "good" may be "gold". After the man teaches her some words, he asks for money, but then feels a sudden rush of guilt. The man is a con-artist who was swindling her for money, but she doesnt care. She tells him that what he was doing was taking her into a magical world with a whole new language, he sees the vision and agrees to partner with her and teach the language to everyone. The scene ends with a man coming into classroom asking about this new language.



The Philadelphia

When nothing goes right for a man all day he finds out from a friend that he is in what is called a Philadelphia. A place where nothing goes the way you want it to and no one helps you. In order to get what he wants, the man has to ask for the opposite of what he wants. For example, he wants a budweiser beer, but has to ask for water, when they don't have water, he asks for something else, then something else, until he eventually gets the budweiser. The friend is in a great mood despite being fired from his job and dumped by his girlfriend, but later the roles are reversed when the friend is in a Philadelphia and the man is in great mood. The daytona production had the man looking like a suave business man, he had a bluetooth headset on and was wearing dressy casual clothes. The unhappy man was very funny in the way he busts onto the stage and begins complaining about his day. His sleave is ripped and has a claw rip on the backside of his shirt.



Variations on the Death of Trotsky: Leon Trotsky

The play shows Trotsky dying in different ways. It takes place on the last day of Trotsky's life and shows eight variations to his life. He dies at the end of each scene. The funny part and cause of death is an climber's axe sticking out of his head. He does not know of the axe until his wife comes in with an encyclopedia from the future and reads to him about his death. He is killed by a Spanish communist named Ramon, who enters the stage playing a guitar and wearing a matadors outfit. After coming to grips with the fact that he is dead or dying he realizes he will never leave this room and ponders the nature of man and humanity. He somehow begins to realize all the future events he will not see and specifically names a few. The scene is set up with only a desk, a chair, and a large window placed behind his desk. The daytona version has the scene ending with Trotsky walking over to the window and looking outside and the stage darkens all arround him except for light coming throught the window, then all goes dark.