David Ives is a modern (which means he hasn't died yet) playwright. He has won awards for his work, including the Outer Critics Circle's John Gassner Playwrighting Award, a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Play, and the 1994 George and Elisabeth Martin Playwrighting Award from Young Playwrights Inc.
Perhaps best known for his collection of six one act plays called All in the Timing which includes: "Sure Thing", "Variations on the Death of Trotsky", "The Philadelphia", "English Made Simple", "Words, Words, Words", and "Universal Language". Some versions have 14 plays, adding "Long Ago and Far Away", "Foreplay, or The Art of the Fugue", "Seven Menus", "Mere Mortals", "A Singular Kinda Guy", "Speed-the-Play", "Ancient History", and "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread".
Among his full-length plays are Ancient History, Don Juan in Chicago, The Red Address, and the libretto to an opera of The Secret Garden.