Play Analysis – Sure Thing by David Ivis
The Setting of “Sure Thing” by David Ivis is important in terms of setting the mood as well as the context for the play’s main conflict. “Sure Thing” is set in a café where the the two main characters, Bill and Betty, awkwardly encounter one another. During their encounter, a ring of a bell continues to disrupt their connection. Despite the ringing bell, or because of the ringing bell, the two characters are able to establish a connection. The fact that they are ultimately able to establish a connection suggests many thing about relationships, such as that timing can play a major role in either beginning or not beginning a relationship. For instance, the bell (and the bell’s timing) suggests that
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Truly, there is no protagonist or antagonist in this play insofar as either Bill or Betty being able to be considered one or the other. The play begins with Bill walking up to Betty and asking if the chair next to her is taken. She replies that the chair is taken. However, the bell immediately rings and Bill restates the question. This time, Betty says that it is not taken, but that she is expecting someone. Again, the bell rings, and Bill asks if the chair is taken again. This process continues, indicating a change in circumstances each time the bell rings, until Bill is able to take a seat next to Betty. What the bell does is it allows the circumstances to change. The bell also allows the conditions that might negatively affect one entering a relationship with another to be changed to accommodate the budding relationship. This process continues throughout the entire play until the main differences between the two (differences that would have prevented a significant connection) are entirely erased and reversed. After beginning one way, repairing the situation, and starting over, the two realize that they are perfect companions, and agree to fall in love.
It is difficult to isolate the play’s conflict to anything other than on a thematic level. Every time a conflict has a potential of presenting itself, the fantasy element
A short play is usually filled with a theatrical energy of diverse anthologies. The time allotted may be only ten or fifteen minutes, so it must be able to capture and engage the audience with some dramatic tension, exciting action, or witty humor. Just as in a short story, a great deal of the explanation and background is left for the reader or viewer to discover on their own. Because all the details are not explicitly stated, each viewer interprets the action in their own way and each experience is unique from someone else viewing the same play. Conflict is the main aspect that drives any work of literature, and plays usually consist of some form of conflict. In “Playwriting 101:
Conflict is the essence of drama. It can contrasts both inner e.g. when Sheila is deciding on whether to sell herself to the Jap’s. It can also be physical, an example
Battles and fights are some examples of conflict in most fictional stories. They can be many different fights, like the epic battle between good and evil, or a kingdom defending their land from enemies. When people think of the word ‘battle’, they may think of climatic sword fights and war. But sometimes, battles can take place inside of a person. Perhaps a character may have conflicting aspirations and desires that may cause an internal battle and maybe result in something catastrophic. Or perhaps a character has opposing personalities that might clash and cause something important to happen. In many works of literature, the writer
As living and breathing human beings people are bound to experience some type of conflict. Conflict can be present within a person, between two people, between a person and forces of nature, and even between a person and their society. Conflict is defined as the struggle that shapes the plot in a story (Clugston, 2014, ch.4sect.1 para.4). When reading a piece of literature, especially a short story, one should pay special attention to the central conflict because it is the key element of the story (Clugston, 2014). This essay will analyze “Sonny’s Blues” by James Baldwin and “Sweat” by
What are the ways in which each major character experiences conflict (either with self, with other characters, or with the social and/or physical environment)?
According to Ann Charters in The Short Story and its Writer, "conflict is the opposition presented to the main Character of a narrative by another character, by events or situations, by fate, or by some aspect of the protagonist's own personality or nature. The conflict is introduced by means of a complication that sets in motion the rising action, usually toward a climax and eventual resolution" (Charters 1782).
In 1988 David Ives created “Sure Things” a short play One-act comedy where he explores many possibilities of a common social daily life situation; dating. With only two characters, Betty and Bill, common names for common people and with fine humor and critic vision, using a peculiar and functional language the author reveals in many ways how this every day activity can have a different outcome, depending in the moment, chosen words, characters mood, personality and intention.
To begin with, in this play the author unfolds family conflicts that involve its characters into a series of events that affected their lives and pushed them to unexpected ways.
A play in which the central character experiences both inner and conflict with other characters is "The Diary of Anne Frank" It is based on true events that occurred from 1933-1945 through the vision of Anne, a young and bubbly girl who was the victim of the Holocaust.
The depiction of timeless issues such as these is what makes the storyline of the play compelling to me.
Throughout the play there are many themes leading up to and causing the chief event.
Conflict, in literary context, can be defined as “the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in a drama or fiction.” Conflicts can be external, between two or more persons, or internal, within one’s self. In most literature the conflict adds to the execution of the plot itself. Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” makes use of both forms of conflict as an essential element of the play. I will show how “Hamlet” presents inner and outer conflicts with examples of each and how their resolutions (if any) serve as a major part of the overall play itself.
The internal conflicts prevalent in William Shakespeare’s Hamlet are the reason why the play is viewed as a classic. Conflicts are imperative in tragic plays as conflicts are the stimulus for catastrophe in the end. The characters in Hamlet face inward conflicts that are equally important as their outward conflicts. Three characters who especially exhibit this are Hamlet, Claudius, and Ophelia. The conflicts that these characters face play a major role in their downfalls and, ultimately, their deaths. Through Claudius’ struggle to conceal the murder of King Hamlet, Ophelia’s guilt for Hamlet’s madness, and Hamlet’s inaction due to fear, Shakespeare conveys that each character faces a dilemma, in which there are no simple solutions.
The setting and Bill's intimacy for Mary throughout the story. When they were young and in love, Bill and Mary used to "walk" and "talk together," but it was years ago. Something not very important came between them and ruined their relationship. When Mary says Bill's name, Mary halts Bill's movement through the park, and they didn't speak. For a short time Bill stopped walking, but when Mary hurries onto the bus, the renewed connection snaps.
In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare conflict plays a very significant role. The play’s main protagonist, Hamlet, possesses both internal and external conflict due to the fact that he is fighting his inner conscience and suppressing his inner emotions, and he is seeking revenge on and conflicting with many other characters in the play. These internal and external conflicts this character is experiencing affect those around him. They also shape the events that occur in the drama and contribute to the overall outcome.