What is the Meaning of `Sure Thing`?

p What is the Meaning of `Sure Thing`

What is the Meaning of `Sure Thing` One of the key thematic aspects of David Ives ' short play "Sure Thing (1988 ) is the question of whether the play 's two characters , Bill and Betty , genuinely achieve communication adn connection by the close of the play or whether the perceived true communication and relationship between the characters is actually a result of superficiality and repetition . In to fully understand the play 's device of restarting the same scene again and again , it is necessary to regard

both possible outcomes or thematic interpretations as equally viable and simultaneous In other words both aspects of the them are intended by Ives : that people do and do not achieve true communication and build genuine connections and relationships during the course of repeated , almost absurdly repeated events

In fact the device of the bell can be interpreted as showing both the universality of the repeated encounter between Bill and Betty but also of the universal nature of seclusion and isolation : the inability for people to reach one another despite repeated attempts to find the 'right " mode and the right words . An example of how the repetition of scenes works to indicate the failed or broken aspects of interpersonal communication is when the first exchange of dialogue takes place BILL-TABLE 1 : Excuse me . Is this chair taken

BETTY-TABLE 1 : Excuse me

BILL-TABLE 1 : Is this taken

BETTY-TABLE 1 : Yes it is

BILL-TABLE 1 : Oh . Sorry

BETTY-TABLE 1 : Sure thing (Ives The initial status between two strangers is a closed , almost impenetrable solitude with little room for affection or emotional response . The exchange of dialogue is meant to indicate the walls that exist between people in modern society , the way that politeness and decorum serve a function of facilitating isolation and precluding human interaction The next exchange of dialogue (after the scene is reset by the bell ) show a slight softening of the decorum and the socially facilitated barriers of formal discourse BILL-TABLE 3 : Excuse me . Is this chair taken

BETTY-TABLE 3 : Excuse me

BILL-TABLE 3 : Is this taken

BETTY-TABLE 3 : No , but I 'm expecting somebody in a minute

BILL-TABLE 3 : Oh . Thanks anyway

BETTY-TABLE 3 : Sure thing (Ives It is important to note that Betty 's line that she is "expecting somebody " reveal the first overt emotional reference of the play but that the emotion is still a function of personal defensiveness and serves to inhibit rather than encourage further interaction . The dual progression demonstrated by these two opening scenes : one a movement toward emotion and toward interpersonal communication , the other a simultaneous movement toward defensiveness and isolation exemplify the progression of dual themes that persist right through to the end of the play

By the time Bill and Betty have made a demonstrable connection -- one that the audience can at least belive may be genuine , there is still no change in the outer formality of the dialogue and its simultaneously evasive and self-protective function . More...