''Ancient History'' is a two-act play written by American playwright

David Ives David Ives (born July 11, 1950) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He is perhaps best known for his comic one-act plays; ''The New York Times'' in 1997 referred to him as the "maestro of the short form". Ives has also written ...

Production

''Ancient History'' premiered

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

in May 1989 in a production by

Primary Stages Primary Stages was founded in 1984 by Casey Childs as an Off-Broadway not-for-profit theater company. In 2004, Primary Stages moved from its 99-seat home of 17 years at 354 West 45th Street to the 199-seat theater at 59E59 Theaters. In 2014, the ...

, with direction by Jason McConnell Buzas and the cast of Beth McDonald and Christopher Wells.Ives, David
Script
''Ancient History'', Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1996, , pp2-3 A revised edition was presented Off-Broadway by Primary Stages in June 1996, with direction by

John Rando John Rando is an American stage director who won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for ''Urinetown the Musical'' in 2002. He received his 2nd nomination in the same category in 2015 for the 2014 Broadway revival of '' On the Town''. ...

and a cast of Vivienne Benesch and

Michael Rupert Michael John Rupert (born October 23, 1951, Denver, Colorado) is an American actor, singer, director and composer. In 1968, he made his Broadway debut in '' The Happy Time'' as Bibi Bonnard for which he received a Tony Award nomination and t ...

.Brantley, Ben
"THEATER REVIEW;A Simply Charming Couple Headed for a Dead End"
''The New York Times'', May 22, 1996 ''New York Magazine'' describes ''Ancient History'' as “a genuine achievement sIves spins a dance that is

Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 play ...

with yuks … the dialogue is crunchy and saucy sthese lovers are buffeted about circularly, hilariously, and scarily.”

Plot

The play opens with the ominous ringing of an off-stage telephone. As the lights come up Ruth and Jack, a couple in their mid-thirties, are dancing in their apartment. The telephone rings again, the couple stops, the music backs up a few measures and they begin to dance. Ruth and Jack dance on and converse about what a good time they are having; after a few lines the telephone rings, the music backs up a few measures and the conversation also goes back a few lines and this time changes direction. A few lines go by and the phone rings again, and the conversation once more rewinds and restarts, yet again changing focus. This pattern of rewinding and restarting the conversation in a different vein continues throughout the play whenever the unseen telephone rings. This convention is similar to the bell ringing in Ives's previous work ''Sure Thing'' (one of six plays in the collection ''

All in the Timing ''All in the Timing'' is a collection of one-act plays by the American playwright David Ives, written between 1987 and 1993. It had its premiere Off-Broadway in 1993 at Primary Stages, and was revived at Primary Stages in 2013. It was first pub ...

''). As the play progresses the audience learns that the couple is in a tenuous state in their relationship and the happiness seen as the play opens is not the prevalent mood. Ruth is

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

; Jack is a former

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Ruth believes in hard work and success; Jack is lazy and has no goals. Ruth desperately wants to be married; Jack hates the idea of marriage. With each ring of the phone, the love affair dissolves into a more intense argument about religion, the future or marriage; however, this does not prevent a build-up of hope with each ring that perhaps the couple may work out their differences and come to an agreement. At one point Ruth and Jack even switch positions: Jack argues for marriage, Ruth argues against it, and it is this final argument that leads to the dissolution of their relationship. After a slew of “fuck you’s” from Jack and “leave’s” from Ruth, the two realize they can no longer be together, but they also do not know how to function without one another. The play ends with a final phone ring and the couple beginning to dance as they did in the start of the play.

References

{{David Ives Plays by David Ives