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From the Director:

The time: The end of one of my early middle school days.

The place: A suburban tumor for Salt Lake City, Utah, West Valley City. Where every couple of blocks was filled with homes that looked exactly the same, with trimmed green grass lawns and a lamppost in the front yard.

I was invited to a showcase performance at my sister's high school, Hunter High. Little closeted me wanted to do anything else, if not just stay home alone where I felt the closest to figuring out who I really was. But the family was going to support my sister, so I had to go. We crowded into the long black box but with my family consisting of several shorter individuals, we sat up in the front to watch the showcase.

Piece after piece passed until a scene with two actors came on with a bell. They began the piece and within a couple of seconds, the bell rang and the actor portraying Bill in Sure Thing snapped right back into the scene. It was transformative and energetic and I was fully ensnared.

David Ives’ All in the Timing is a wonderful piece of six one-acts all based around a singular concept. Many believe the concept is of time, which has to do with the pieces specifically regarding the idea of comedic timing, but Ives, and I have to agree with the creator, pushed the concept of language. Each act delves deep into the recesses of our language and stretches it as far as it can go, and it is beautiful and brilliant. From the Esperanto-like language of The Universal Language that Ives created, to the rhythm of speech of a few select words in Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread.

There is a reason this show has been done from the moment the six one acts were bound together into a single piece. It is a masterclass of comedy, writing, and human truths. David Ives has said that all theatre is based around the idea of love, and each of these pieces highlights that. But love is a universal truth, experienced by any one regardless of their gender identity, age, size, or background. Much of theatre has been written for non-queer folk, despite all of us sharing the same truths. And when theatre is written for the queer population, it is all about our queerness. We live regular lives, and have regular problems, so we should allow ourselves to exemplify these truths on stage.

This production of All in the Timing had no care for the identity or presentation of the actors and from it we've discovered so many hidden layers and truths we never got to find whenever any of us had done the piece previously. From the stages of life and love in The Variations on the Death of Trotsky, to the flickers of romance and fear for prospective couples when meeting in the later portions of life as we see in Sure Thing. No matter who you are, what you believe in, or where you find yourself, everyone can find the truths of life and love in All in the Timing, albeit laced with side-splitting jokes and clownery of a bunch of seasoned performers as you're about to see tonight!

From both myself, and the closeted me who first saw the endless variations of a scene through the power of a bell, we hope you enjoy our version of this spectacular show.

Scene List

Sure Thing

Two people meet in a cafe and find their way through a conversational minefield as an offstage bell interrupts their false starts, gaffes, and faux pas on the way to falling in love.

Words, Words, Words

recalls the philosophical adage that three monkeys typing into infinity will sooner or later produce Hamlet and asks: What would monkeys talk about at their typewriters?

The Universal Language

brings together Dawn, a young woman with a stutter, and Don, the creator and teacher of Unamunda, a wild comic language. Their lesson sends them into a dazzling display of hysterical verbal pyrotechnics—and, of course, true love.

Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread

is a parodic musical vignette in trademark Glassian style, with the celebrated composer having a moment of existential crisis in a bakery.

The Philadelphia

presents a young man in a restaurant who has fallen into a “Philadelphia,” a Twilight Zone-like state in which he cannot get anything he asks for.

Variations on the Death of Trotsky

shows us the Russian revolutionary on the day of his demise, desperately trying to cope with the mountain-climber’s axe he’s discovered in his head.

Cast

Creative Team

Meet the Company

Trish Annese

(she/her) is delighted to be making her Sunday Stages debut in All in the Timing. Previous roles and projects include Huldeygarde in the Out of Pocket production of The Moors; Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing with Rochester Shakespeare Players; The Triangle Factory Fire Project and Stories from the Fringe with JCC Theater; and Pink Ribbons, written by Brad Craddock. Trish would like to thank her husband, Ross Amstey, for his optimism, good nature, and considered encouragement of her theatrical pursuits.

Lydia Nightingale

(she/her) is an actor, author, and public historian originally from Troy, NY. She holds a BA in Theatre Arts from SUNY New Paltz and an MA in Public History from the University at Albany. Favorite acting credits include Hattie Gould in SWEPT CLEAN (Northeast Theatre Ensemble), Henrietta Leavitt in SILENT SKY (Schenectady Civic Players) and Julie Mercier in THE BEAST by Marty Egan (Not So Common Players). Her postwar-era drama ADELE IN BERLIN premiered in NYC in 2015 and was shown as part of the Rochester Fringe Festival in 2023 to two sold-out audiences. Lydia’s historical queer romance novel DRAWN is currently in revisions with Spellbound Publishing House LLC. Follow her on Instagram and TikTok at @ljnightingale.

Nora Savage

(she/her) is very excited to be a part of this production of All in the Timing. This is her first production with the Rochester Fringe Festival, as well as her first production after college. Recent credits include Ride the Cyclone (director), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Robin Starveling) with Nazareth University. Big thanks to the cast and crew of this amazing production for making this such a special experience. Enjoy the show!

Jasmin Singer

(she/her) is excited to return to the stage after her recent appearance in NSFW (“Miranda”) at Blackfriars Theater (Hourglass Play Reading Series) and playing multiple roles in The Dinner Detective Murder Mystery Dinner Theater. A Rochester transplant via Manhattan and Los Angeles, Jasmin has been featured in national commercials, award-winning indie films (shout-out to The Bra Mitzvah), and numerous stage productions. Favorite roles include Exhibit This! The Museum Comedies (Midtown International Theater Festival, NYC), Sex, Relationships, and Sometimes Love (Michael Chekhov Theatre, NYC), Mary Stuart (“Queen Elizabeth,” Pace Downtown Theater, NYC), and Whose Afraid of Virginia Wolf? (“Honey,” Circle Playhouse, NJ). She has a BFA in Acting from Pace University. Jasmin is the author of two books (Always Too Much and Never Enough: A Memoir; Penguin Random House’s Berkley, 2016 and The VegNews Guide to Being a Fabulous Vegan, Hachette Go, 2020) and is a host at WXXI, Rochester’s NPR and PBS member station (check out her TV and radio show, Environmental Connections). Don’t miss Jasmin as Bernadette in POTUS at Blackfriars Theater, debuting next month.

Tiffany Thompson

(they/she) Velcro! “All in the Timing” has been a project for Tiffany, on top of performing they also costumed and prop mastered for the production! They are excited to be back at the Rochester Fringe Festival after the sold out run of “35mm: A Musical Exhibition” at the 2023 Fringe Festival. Previous productions of their’s include: Dashboard Dramas VIII, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and The Wedding Show (Ithaca).

Stevie Burggraaf

Director

STEVIE BURGGRAAF (they/she) has enjoyed the opportunity to direct Sunday Stage’s second Rochester Fringe Festival performance! They previously directed Sunday Stage’s 35mm: A Musical Exhibition during the 2023 Rochester Fringe Festival. After moving to Rochester from Salt Lake City, UT in July of 2021, Stevie was so excited to enter the world of theatre on the east coast as a queer artist and did so with local productions at Blackfriars’s Threatre (Cabaret, Too Much Light…, Suessical) as well as with Out of Pocket’s production of The Moors. When not on the stage, Stevie’s schedule is busy being the Assistant Producer for the Rochester Fringe Festival. Rochester has provided ample opportunities for Stevie to meet talented fellow artists and create wonderful, queer inclusive, art.

Tiffany Thompson

Costumer, Prop Master

(they/she) This is Tiffany’s second time costuming and props mastering. They also did the same for Sunday Stages’ Fringe production “35mm: A Musical Exhibition,” which was FULL of props and costumes. This year was supposed to be simpler… but where’s the fun in that? They have thoroughly enjoyed the hunt for each prop and costume piece for this play; the concepts for each scene were so fun to gather items for, they cannot wait for their next opportunity!

Charlie Cowan

Assistant Director

(they/them) is originally from Boise, Idaho and moved to Rochester three years ago. They have enjoyed local theatre while performing in The Company Theatre’s Spring Awakening and Pittsford Musicals’ Legally Blonde, as well as working on Sunday Stages’ production of 35mm at the Fringe Festival last year. Thank you to the Sunday Stages Board, our lovely cast, Greenfinch Interpreting, and The Company Theatre! Love to my dear friends, family, and Jocelyn. Enjoy the show!

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