The Northeast Theatre Presents TIME. TIMING. TIMELESS. - Two evenings of comedy by David Ives

Five Actors, Ten Plays, Two Evenings

David Ives is a very funny man. He writes plays that have been variously called brilliant, dazzling, hilarious, and intellectually rare. But what director Mary Ethel Schmidt has found as she approached The Northeast Theatre’s mini-festival of Ives’ work entitled Time.Timing.Timeless. is that the ten plays included in this two-evening series are also very moving. “They fall into three types,” she explains, “journeys of intense yearning, statements of profound goodness, and examples of the delirium that results from being trapped by language.” The overall effect of these evenings is the message that human beings are good and that the human spirit perseveres though all the boundaries we set for ourselves, ultimately to find love. Time.Timing.Timeless. begins previews at Performance Space at the Hotel Jermyn on February 27, and will play with Shows A & B alternating Wednesdays through Sundays through March 16.

Director Schmidt, who recently relocated to Factoryville from New York so that she could work more closely with The Northeast Theatre and its training program for actors, Griffin Conservatory, chose the ten plays that make up Time.Timing.Timeless. from two collections of Ives’ work entitled Time Flies and All in the Timing, which together include 27 short plays. “I chose these plays because they seemed to be the ones with the most heart,” she says. “I want to touch people with these quirky, funny, stories — mayflies on a desperate date before their life span of 24 hours flashes past; the sudden surreality called ‘a Philadelphia’ where nothing makes its usual sense; three monkeys at typewriters who are smarter than the scientists using them for an experiment. The plays seem silly at first sight, but they really speak to us, and we laugh because of that, not because they’re odd.”

She was also challenged by a rehearsal period of two weeks during which five actors would have to create interpretations of more than 40 roles. “I chose to work with actors from our informal company,” she explains. “With so little time, and so much to accomplish, we don’t have the luxury of getting to know each other; we had to hit the ground running.” So she chose an all-Scranton cast that features favorites Conor McGuigan, Richard Grunn, James Langan, Heather Stuart, and Michaela Moore. “They are all very different in their approaches, and all have a keen sense of comedy as it relates to revealing the human heart.”

The ten plays are presented as two shows (”A” & “B”) of five plays each. Show A (Feb 27, 29, Mar 2, 6, 8, 13, 15) features: Words, Words, Words, Variations on the Death of Trotsky, Degas, C’est Moi, A Singular Kind of Guy, and Lives of the Saints. Show B (Feb 28, Mar 1, 5, 7, 9, 14, 16) features: Time Flies, English Made Simple, Arabian Nights, The Philadelphia, and The Green Hill. Tickets are available for individual shows, or with a discount for a two-show admission.

Time.Timing.Timeless., begins previews February 27, and opens March 1 with a post show reception - free with a ticket to the show - with the actors and other artists involved. It continues through March 16. Pay-What-You-Can Wednesdays are February 27 and March 5 (when there are no set ticket prices), Cheap-as-a-Movie Thursdays are February 28, and March 6 and 13 (when all tickets are $8, or $6 for students) and February 29 is final preview, when prices are $10 general and $6 for students. Regular prices are $20 general, $15 seniors, and $6 students for single shows, and $30 general, $20 seniors, and $10 students for a two-show ticket. Tickets may be purchased in person at the box office on Wednesdays through Saturdays after 3:00 p.m., or anytime by phone at 570-558-1515, or online at www.thenortheasttheatre.us/Season2.htm

There will be post show discussion with the actors and director, immediately after the show on Sunday, March 2 (at approximately 4:30). Anyone with a ticket stub to that, or any earlier performance of the play, is invited to attend and take part without charge.

PlayPass members and Sponsors may make reservations and are eligible for discounts at six Downtown restaurants (130 Brixx, Blues Street Cafe, Faccia Luna, Martini Lounge, Sambuca Grille, Vida: a Tapas Bar); all others may purchase tickets in advance at www.thenortheasttheatre.us, by phone 570-558-1515, or in person at the box office (Wednesdays through Saturdays after 3 p.m.)

The Northeast Theatre’s Sixteenth Season is sponsored by ServiceMaster by Griffing, Patsel’s, Everything Natural, Lamar Outdoor Advertising, Bold Gold Media, Lackawanna County Council on Education and Culture, and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.