FSU’s Dept. of Theatre and Dance Presents “Fives by Ives”

The Performing Arts Center hosted the opening night of “Five by Ives” on March 1. The play is comprised of a series of five one-act plays. Darrell Rushton, an associate professor of theatre and dance at FSU, directed the play.

The themes represented throughout the one-act plays are based on a collection from David Ives, an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist.

As the play started, Bill and Betty were at a diner, and Bill went through a lot of scenarios to try and get Betty to go out with him. A bell rang for him to start over, and he eventually got Betty to go out with him.

During Act II, two men, Al and Mark, had dinner. Mark had a bad day and was told to relax and say the opposite to get what he wants. Once Mark was used to how things work, bad luck started to rub off on his friend, Al, and he freaked out because he didn’t need to say the opposite of what he wanted.

During Act III, there were three monkeys attempting to write The Hamelot, but they seemed to be getting nowhere.

Act IV saw Dawn try to learn a universal language with her stutter. A professor named Don tried to teach her. After she got used to it, she paid Don, and he told her that she can actually speak English, and if he were to take the money from her, it would be fraud. He confessed that the universal language was made up, but Dawn wasn’t mad because it made her happy. They fell in love and started a business together teaching the universal language.

The final act was about two mayflies, Horace and May, that do not have a long time to live, and they figure out what to do with the remainder of their time left on Earth.

All the actors came out at the end, and the audience was pleased with the performance.

Tickets for the play can be purchased at: www.frostburg.edu/TheatreDance