No Sure Thing

In the play Sure Thing, David Ives uses the title to relay the goal that males and females are trying to accomplish in modern society’s dating relationships. The prose within the play is calculated and methodical in an effort to get the desired result of establishing a connection. It is exemplary of the rituals that men and women find crucial to establish a good first impression and move on to the next step. What that next step is, however, is open to interpretation. While some may be seeking a long-lasting relationship, others may simply be seeking sexual gratification. There exists no mold by which all relationships should be formed. This is demonstrated in the manner in which the characters, with the aid of the bell, use endless variations to start over. Perhaps the play should have been titled No Sure Thing.

The play serves as an example of how readily we take for granted the deeper meaning that we should be searching for within a relationship. At one point, Betty asks, “Are you really interested, or do you just want to pick me up?” (Ives 1121). This contributes to the notion that people meet and jump into relationships before really getting to know one another, placing sex as the reward without seeking deeper meaning to their relationship. With the recurring “do-over’s”, Ives is giving their characters the opportunity to get it right. It takes many, many tries before Bill and Betty get to the point where they are accepting of each other enough to proceed to the next level. Throughout the duration of the play the characters are searching for the right answer and in most of the situations this causes a bell to sound. In the beginning when Betty doesn’t know Bill, she says, “Sure thing,” (1118) as a way to reject him and to remind him that she’s only looking for a sure thing, like the person she is supposedly waiting for

There are many factors to consider in determining whether a person that approaches us randomly has the potential to become someone significant and whether or not we should proceed. One of the primary things being, are we interested in trying? In the first scene, Betty repeatedly turns Bill away in many different manners. When Bill states that “You never know who you may be turning down.” (1118), he essentially points out the fact that allowing him to sit with her may bring Betty to meet that special someone. Bill tells Betty that “It’s all in the timing” (1120) and “You have to hit these things at the right moment or it’s no good” (1120). This is further insight into Ives’s view of relationships: much of what one gets out of a relationship is dependent on something as random as time. Timing and readiness are as important to the development of a relationship as finding the right person. Finding the right person is also a matter of chance. Yves alludes to this when Bill and Betty speak of missed connections.

BILL: Amazing how you can live right next door to somebody in this town and never even know it.

BETTY: I know

BILL: City Life

BETTY: It’s crazy

BILL: We probably pass each other on the street every day. Right in front of this place, probably. (1121)

Determining who the right person is, however, is subject to a whole other slew of factors that we as individuals deem important. Among these factors are politics, educational background, convictions and even something as incongruous as astrological sign. Despite the fact that some, including Betty, may deem this an unimportant, Ives utilizes it as an inclination to proceed or halt the conversation. Betty states that “Labels are not important.” (1124) yet the dialogue that follows indicates that the level of education or the city you grew up in can make or break an impression. Bill agrees that “Labels are not important. Like me, for example, I mean, what does it matter if I had a two-point ‘” [Bell] / three-point – [Bell] / four-point at college, or if I did come from Pittsburgh – [Bell] / Cleveland – [Bell] / Westchester County?” (1124). This humorous dialogue indicates that regardless of Betty’s statement, it truly is important to her where he came from and what his college GPA was and it was somewhat hypocritical of her to state otherwise.

The question remains, in the mind of those more pessimistic and skeptical, whether Bill is just saying the things that Betty wants to hear. The majority of the corrected lines are attributed to Bill. It is Bill who is trying harder to make the right impression on Betty, whereas Betty’s corrections are primarily done to decide whether or not to proceed with the conversation. Bill is attempting to say the right thing in order to make his efforts with Betty a sure thing. Of course, the fact that there are so many missteps in his dialogue and his responses goes to show that there is no sure thing. Without the aid of the bell, Bill would not have gotten past the third line. By rerouting the characters’ responses, Ives allows them to make the necessary changes to get things right. The outcome is Betty symbolically becoming a sure thing. However, the fact that it took so many attempts to achieve the ultimate goal of walking out of that caf© together, and the fact that Ives intended for his play to be comedic and satirical, goes to show that there is no sure thing.

The title of this play, Sure Thing, refers to the need that we for a sure thing when dating. The characters do not proceed to the next step until they are sure that the other person is a sure thing and they fit the norm that society and we, ourselves, subject our significant others to. Yet the truth remains that until one or the other takes a chance, there is no moving forward. Taking a chance in itself is indicative of the fact that when dealing with relationships there is no sure thing. It is useless to chase an ideal that may not exist.