Worcester State Theatre UpClose
Presents an Evening of Six One-Act Plays

All In The Timing, we get to see the world through the eyes of playwright David Ives.  It’s a mixed-up, profound, and very, very funny world where chimps try to write Hamlet, Philadelphia is a metaphysical state of being, and we get a “do over” for every mistake made while dating.  Worcester State Theatre will produce Ives’ sparkling evening of six one-act plays, All In The Timing at Worcester State College for four performances in April.

All In The Timing will be presented by Worcester State Theatre Up Close and the Department of Visual and Performing Arts April 10, 11, and 12 at 8 p.m., and April 13 at 2 p.m. in Sullivan Auditorium at 486 Chandler St. in Worcester.  Tickets are $6.00 for students and $12.00 general admission, and will be available at the Student Center Information Desk and at the door. 

            The six plays in All In The Timing, have won wide acclaim for their wit, intelligence, and humor.  At their core, each play examines how we communicate…or don’t, as the case may be.

Sure Thing: Two people meet in a cafe and find their way through a conversational minefield as an off-stage bell interrupts their false starts, gaffes, and faux-pas on the way to falling in love.

The Universal Language brings together Dawn, a young woman with a stutter, and Don, the creator and teacher of Unamunda, a wild comic language. Their lesson sends them off into a dazzling display of hysterical verbal pyrotechnics-and, of course, true love.

Words, Words, Words recalls the philosophical adage that three monkeys typing into infinity will sooner or later produce Hamlet and asks: what would monkeys talk about at their typewriters?

The Philadelphia presents a young man in a restaurant who has fallen into "a Philadelphia," a Twilight-Zone-like state in which he cannot get anything he asks for. His only way out of the dilemma? To ask for the opposite of what he wants.

Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread is a parodic vignette in trademark Glassian style, with the celebrated composer having a moment of existential crisis in a bakery.

Variations on the Death of Trotsky shows us the Russian revolutionary on the day of his demise, desperately trying to cope with the mountain-climber's axe he's discovered in his head.

            Professor Adam Zahler directs and Professor John Howell Hood designs the set and sound.  Costumes for four of the plays are designed by Professor Susan Johnson-Hood with Sure Thing and Universal Language designed by Worcester State College Student Erica Hall.  Chris Fournier designs the lighting.

            All In The Timing, will be performed in Sullivan Auditorium, the temporary home of Worcester State Theatre while the Administration building is undergoing renovations.

            For more information call 508-929-8843.

Below are the plays with casts.  All actors are students

Sure Thing

Betty---------------- Emily Chestna
Bill------------------- Johnny Sanderski

Universal Language

Dawn---------------- Danielle St. Amand
Don------------------ Kyle Maxwell
Young Man-------- Richard Holy

Words, Words, Words

Swift----------------- Lenny Wells
Kafka---------------- Trang Le
Milton--------------- Robert Anderson

The Philadelphia

Al--------------------- Kyle Maxwell
Waitress------------ Emily Thurlow
Mark---------------- Johnny Sanderski

Philip Glass Buys A Loaf Of Bread

Woman #1--------- Elena Casado
Woman #2--------- Amanda Gillis
Philip Glass-------- Julien Belliveau
Baker---------------- Robert Anderson

Variations On The Death Of Trotsky

Trotsky-------------- Garrett Morand
Mrs. Trotsky------- Christine Bussell
Ramon-------------- Robert Budzyna