One-Acts by David Ives
by David Ives
Winners of 2007 Ottawa Fringe Best Comedy for Three One-Acts by David Lindsay-Abaire, Vision Theatre returns with One-Acts by another David…David Ives!
Sure Thing: finding a way through a conversational minefield.
English Made Simple: A romantic attraction is translated into comically unromantic grammar lessons.
Speed-The-Play: AMERICAN BUFFALO, OLEANNA, SPEED-THE-PLOW, and SEXUAL PERVERSITY…, all rewritten and “boiled down with the gist extracted.” A must for Mamet fans.
Vision Theatre Inc.
Ottawa ON
Venue 5- Arts Court Theatre
Comedy
16+ PG
| Date | Time | Buy Tickets |
| Friday June 20 | 23:00 | |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday June 21 | 21:00 | |
| Monday June 23 | 19:30 | |
| Thursday June 26 | 21:00 | |
| Saturday June 28 | 18:00 | |
| Sunday June 29 | 13:30 |
Sam Awwad
June 23rd, 2008CBC Radio - Ottawa Morning
Vision Theatre Review by Alvina Ruprecht
Transcript
4Plays Vision Theatre created near pandemonium with 4 short one-act plays by David Ives. It features 6 actors who morph through all these performances with the greatest of ease. These are all comedies based on language…very different from the Austrailians who like their bodies who do things with their bodies. These are all twisted uses of English, and reminds a bit of George Carlin actually, running jokes, word plays, everday situations made strange and hilarious and lots of verbal gags. Best of all I liked the 4th segment, based on 4 plays by David Mamet all squashed together in 15 minutes, you got to know his works to get this but it was quite funny I loved it! This one directed by Greg Wysynski what we come away with are the basic themes of Mamet’s theatre – male bonding, women are dangerous, and lots of F-U words, which Im not allowed to say on air either. So for me however there was a bit of deja-vu in it all, but they still pulled it off very well, and the staging is excellent and the audience loved it again…packed packed packed, their packing the houses its very good.
Or Listen to it here: http://cbc.ca/ottawa/media/audio/ottawamorning/20080623fringe.ram
We are at around the 8 minute mark.
Angela R
June 23rd, 2008Saturday night, I spent my money well with this one! Or FOUR as it turns out! Four Plays by David Ives.
The elevator doors opened at Arts Court Theatre to a packed lobby and a crowd eager to see what Vision Theatre has produced this year! Last year’s craziness with the 3 one acts were wild and pushed the envelope. This year, they’re treating us to 4 tightly knit shows that may not have the EDGE but most certainly have the entertainment value. Picture 6 cast members woven into shows (some, as I’ve read the scripts) adding actors where they wouldn’t normally be, duets becoming foursomes and finishing with an ensemble piece. The packed house on Saturday night roared with laughter and applauded with a want for more! All six actors are STRONG and know what comedy is about. Their understanding of that allows the audience to just sit and enjoy every single moment of it. The facial expressions of Jennifer Scrivens are priceless. Shaun Toohey’s hysteria balances Sam Awwad’s subdued manner in The Philadelphia. Stewart and Laplante’s deadpan in the difficultly maneuvered Sure Thing allowes the audience into “what if we could take back what we said” moments, and Marsha as the male roasting David Mamet in Speed-the-play does a great job keeping the scenes running with an “F-U if you don’t like it” attitude.
I HIGHLY recommend spending your money wisely and entering the world of Vision Theatre. This is a talented young theatre company that, if they continue to fire out the hits, will soon become a company in the ranks with GCTC and NAC.
Go see their shows. You won’t be sorry you did!
Sam Awwad
June 24th, 2008Wow!
Thank you Angela!
Very glad you enjoyed the show and thank you for the extremely kind words!
Sam
Colleen
June 28th, 2008A fantastic, fun production by one of Ottawa’s local theatre companies. Vision is back and with a bang! I laughed so hard it hurt! I’m now officially a fan of David Ives and loved all of the performers in this show. You cannot go wrong giving your Fringe card a punch for this one. Go. DO NOT MISS!
Vernon W
June 29th, 2008Four bite-sized plays are nicely presented in this funny production, the acting was fine though the actors flubbed the lines to the first play a few times at the performance I attended. That didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the show, which is a credit to the quality of the writing. I especially enjoyed the third piece (Sure Thing), but there were several audience members who had a riot during the final David Mamet send–up. I’m looking forward to seeing what this production company comes up with for next year’s fringe, good job!
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