“Alternative facts“ was a memorable and much-maligned term used by US Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway in 2017, during President Trump’s first term. That idiotic phrase came to mind while watching The Lifespan of a Fact, the current offering at Playhouse on Park. The topical comedy, written by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell in 2018, could not be timelier.
Beginning as a book by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal in 2017, The Lifespan of a Fact dramatizes their conflict over the fact-checking of D’Agata’s essay, “What Happens There,” about a suicide in Las Vegas. The actual story was truncated somewhat to fit the confines of a 90 minute stage play (without intermission), and it proves both riveting and wildly entertaining in West Hartford. Fingal’s meticulous, often critical, fact-checking conflicts with D’Agata’s stubborn egotism, and the play explores this tension between literary license and journalistic accuracy.
At the Playhouse, John (Shannon Michael Wamser) and Jim (Edward Montoya) are refereed by magazine editor Emily Penrose (Suzanne O’Donnell). She has assigned Jim with the task of working on John’s essay with the stipulation of a strict deadline. When all three characters eventually converge on John’s home, sparks fly as Jim’s annoying mosquito buzzes John’s alpha male into a physical confrontation. A debate then ensues centering on the nature of truth and the boundaries between art and fact, with no easy answers provided.
Under director Matt Pfeiffer’s brisk but steady direction, The Lifespan of a Fact engages both the mind and the funny bone. The three-person cast is just right, with O’Donnell perhaps even better than that as a woman very much holding her own between two strong and opposite personalities. You can’t possibly watch the debate without thinking about our current news culture where people have retreated to CNN or Fox to decide who has the facts at any given moment. And the play’s perfectly ambiguous ending is right on the money.
KT Farmer’s costuming finds character-revealing clothes for each cast member. Praise also for Patti Panyakaew’s functional set design, which smoothly converts from Emily’s slick New York office to John’s lived-in family home (including the perfect chair from Pier One). This memorable POP production gets a lot of things right.
The Lifespan of a Fact continues at Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road in West Hartford, Connecticut through May 3. For further information and ticket reservations call the theatre box office at 860-523-5900 Ext. 10 or visit: www.playhouseonpark.org.
Tom Holehan is one of the founders of the Connecticut Critics Circle, a frequent contributor to WPKN Radio’s “State of the Arts” program and the Stratford Crier and former Artistic Director of Stratford’s Square One Theatre Company. He welcomes comments at: tholehan@yahoo.com. His reviews and other theatre information can be found on the Connecticut Critics Circle website: www.ctcritics.org.
