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October 27, 2005
Sure Thing
Ives, "Sure Thing" -- Drama as Literature (EL 250)
Sure Thing by David Ives
BILL: I was just so excited after ten pages that I went out and bought everything else he wrote. One of the greatest reading experiences of my life…What do you think?BETTY: I think it’s pretty boring.
It’s a how-to guide on what to say and what not to say. It’s a bit like replaying a scene over and over again in your head, and wishing you would have said something clever. Only they actually get to re-do it until they get it right. Timing is very important and getting it right is never a “sure thing.” It’s interesting to see how a single wrong word can affect your interest in a person.
Is the bell ringing in the background just to show that they’ve started over, or is one of the characters ringing the bell? Betty, because she doesn’t like what Bill said, or Bill because he can tell he’s said the wrong thing and wants to start over?
Betty is certainly inconsistent in their opinions when she wants to be left alone. I can understand why she wouldn’t want to be bothered when reading The Sound and the Fury, it’s a confusing book.
Posted by Kayla Sawyer at October 27, 2005 9:38 PM
Comments
This play is absoloutely fantastic, one of the best short plays there is. So funny - had me in stitches when I was rehearsing it! If this is new to you, check David Ives other plays - there are all ingeniously plotted and rib-ticklingly funning
Posted by: sam skuse at January 5, 2007 3:31 PM
Sam, how was the bell staged when you were in the play? Have you seen the bell staged in any other ways??
Posted by: sugar stuff at February 4, 2007 9:07 PM
we actually used a buzzer, like in gameshow when a question is wrong! It worked perfectly! Try it out - or maybe use a foghorn or something?
Posted by: sam skuse at March 9, 2007 10:47 AM