HMConcept

//Sure Thing// is a short play by David Ives. It features Bill and Betty in a café on a rainy Friday night. The two try to make a connection with each other, but often they say something that turns the other one off, necessitating a redo. These are signified by the sound of a bell ringing, after which the scene is repeated with adjustments. Eventually, the two end up together after a series of small deviations from “scene” to “scene.” The play should show how easy it is to make a wrong first impression and to try to backpedal and make everything okay again. As such, the overall concept for the play should be Paris, a city of enchantment and love. The setting is dim and close together with muted purples, blues, and creams. Paris is dark and sophisticated, the home of great artists, and it is a form of craftsmanship to begin a relationship on the right foot as Bill and Betty are trying to do. The two should also be wearing darker, muted colors (as opposed to pastels or brights). In terms of acting, at least one person in each part of the scene should be cool and collected, while the other can be nervously trying to woo the first person. The advertising should follow this concept fairly closely. The program can be a cream color, with cursive-style font in dark letters diagonally across it as in old French movie posters. Any advertisements should talk about love in the very first line to indicate that that is what the play is essentially about. On set, the table and chairs that the two occupy should have sharp corners and lines to highlight the difficulty of their encounter, with maybe a square window which will appear darker than the café through which Bill can be seen entering the café. A round clock would show the circular attitude towards time in the production.