Friday, April 11, 2008
Three monkeys sit in a laboratory pounding at typewriters as they attempt to write “Hamlet.” A man has a sudden personal crisis while trying to buy a loaf of bread. A con man teaches an indecipherable gibberish language to his gullible mark.
No, these aren’t bad jokes, or even bad dreams. These are descriptions of three of the humorous one-act plays that make up “All in the Timing,” a collection of six short works by David Ives, performed at the Hashinger Hall Theater April 11, 12 and 13 at 7 p.m.
Matt Gieschen, Overland Park freshman, directed the show. He volunteered to help the production after being approached by Lauren Eby, director of the Arts Council of Hashinger’s hall government.
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I thought it would be easier to do than a full-length show, but it turned out to be pretty hard.
Matt Gieschen, Overland Park freshman
“They have one show every semester, and she asked me if I’d like to do it,” Gieschen said. “I did theater in high school, and I had a fun time doing it, so I said yes.”
Gieschen said he chose to do a collection of short plays instead of one long production because it required less set construction.
“I thought it would be easier to do than a full-length show, but it turned out to be pretty hard,” Gieschen said. “But because my actors’ schedules are so diverse, it’s helped to have rehearsals where I only need some of the cast instead of everyone, or one or two people in every scene.”
In one of the show’s scenes, “Universal Language,” cast member Denny Dorrell, Overland Park sophomore, plays a con man who speaks most of his lines in an imaginary language that Ives, the playwright, invented. Dorrell said it wasn’t easy getting the strange dialogue down.
“I haven’t been in many shows, but from what I know personally, it was really hard,” Dorrell said. “After a while you learn to go with it, and you can always make up words if you forget your lines.”
Dorrell said he was grateful Ives provided a translation of the gibberish lines so he could understand the tone of the scene.
“Once I got the hang of it, it was a blast,” Dorrell said.
Actress Laurie Gallagher, Lenexa freshman, said she already experienced “All in the Timing” through a performance at her high school.
“This was a different kind of production than the one we did in high school,” Gallagher said. “It was fun to work with it from a different perspective.” Gallagher is also making her first appearance on-stage at the University after some experience working with backstage crews on other productions.
Gieschen said the six acts of the show were tied together by a sense of playfulness with language and human nature.
“Ives likes to play with words, and he’s really whimsical with his treatment of humanity,” he said. “This show really plays and experiments with different possibilities, and that’s why I like it so much.”
Of the scenes, Gieschen said he liked “Phillip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread” the most. The action concerns a man’s internal struggles after running into a former girlfriend at a bakery.
“It’s really unique because there are no stage directions, so the director can put his or her vision into it, and I think it really turned out well,” Gieschen said.
Gieschen said he enjoyed his experience directing the show, and wouldn’t mind doing it again.
“I like acting, too, but directing has been very interesting,” he said.
—Edited by Samuel Lamb
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