Displaying items by tag: Marianne Embree

Don’t be deceived by the title.  The phrase “lifespan of a fact” sounds about as dry as the Mojave Desert and just a mite confusing.  But, as Glenview’s Oil Lamp Theater’s current stage production proves, those knee jerk perceptions turn out to be completely absurd.  Instead, its The Lifespan of a Fact is about as engrossing and entertaining as anything you’ll find on the big screen, a streaming service or another theatrical stage.

Adapted from a 2012 book of the same title, the play re-enacts the fiery real-life interplay between a writer and his fact checker about a magazine article concerning suicide in Las Vegas. A sixteen-year-old boy, Levi Presley, jumped from the Stratosphere Hotel in 2002. The author writing about his death, John D’Agata, used his piece to talk more broadly about the scourge of suicide and its prevalence in Vegas.  Jim Fingal was the fact checker assigned to him by the magazine publishing his essay.  Together, they would eventually co-author the book, The Lifespan of a Fact, revealing the laborious and harrowing process of ensuring the preservation of truth remains the cornerstone of journalistic practice. Derived from the book, Oil Lamp’s standout presentation of the play, which debuted in 2018, brings that process blazingly to life.

It starts innocently enough, slathered as it is in the hallmarks of high stakes corporate urgency. Magazine editor Emily Penrose (Marianne Embree) needs a fact checker for an article by a highly regarded writer known to take creative liberties with his submissions. She taps a young, eager and very bright recent Harvard grad, Jim Fingal (James Wheeler), for the job.  He’s got three days to make sure every detail is accurate and if they’re not, make sure they are by Monday. Fingal assures her he’s got this.  Not only does he carry the Harvard stamp, he reminds her he also worked on the college’s vaunted newspaper, The Crimson.  After reviewing his strategy with her, he’s flushes whatever plans he had for the weekend and plunges into his task.

Quickly noticing discrepancies in what the author stated and what was fact, he queries her about how best to address the conflict.  High ranking editors in New York’s media empires don’t usually have time for the tedium of minutiae and she recommends he call D’Agata himself for clarifications or corrections.  With that recommendation, she’s unwittingly introducing dynamite to a flame.

So driven is he to meet his commitment, Fingal hops a plane to Vegas, uninvited and uninstructed, to meet with the author. From moment one, Wheeler as Fingal fills his role so completely you have no reservations cheering his conviction, even if he is a bit top heavy in the sanctimonious and ego departments.  The first has a lot to do with who he’s dealing with.  He and D’Agata, splendidly played by Tim Walsh, have opposing views on the pliability of journalistic tenets.  D’Agata doesn’t even want to call the piece he submitted an article.  He prefers to reference it as an essay, something much more amenable to creative license.  As interested in the feel, texture and aesthetic resonance of his writing as he is in its truth, D’Agata believes some facts, or a portion of the core components of truth, can be sacrificed to the art of writing.  Neither the editor or the fact checker questions the beauty or power of the piece D’Agata has written about the young boy’s death, but they don’t want a compromised truth to be its cost. With two colossal egos at war, the clashes between the two men become titanic and, superficially, hugely comical.  Director Elizabeth Mazur Levin’s nimble sense of pacing keeps anticipation on a steady boil and the scrappy, often scintillating dialog, bullet train fast.   Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell adapted the book for the stage and deserve extravagant praise for how effectively they make the would-be arcane so deliciously palatable.  

Although the play’s beginning transpires in the blank sterility of a New York office building, the bulk of it happens in D’Agata’s Las Vegas home.  There, Ellen Markus’s scenic design gives a sobering view of what life as an acclaimed and respected feature writer might look like.  It’s not an enviable or tempting picture.  Rather it’s quite modest and absent of anything that suggests indulgence or noticeable luxury.  D’Agata informs the fact checker that he lived there with his mother until she passed away and confirmed he also teaches at a local university in Las Vegas.  It’s the type of solitary existence that fosters contemplation.  And it also seems to be an environment where convictions easily harden. 

In a desperate attempt to salvage a written work she hopes will be a part of her legacy at the magazine, the editor, Penrose, eventually ends up in Vegas, too.  As the three pick the article/essay apart, evaluating the import, significance and intrinsic criticality of each factual element, you sense the gravity of what they’re attempting to do.  As much as Fingal the fact checker abhors it, they’re “negotiating” on what and how information will be relayed in D’Agata’s story.  How truth, as they collectively agree to define it, will be expressed.   The process is quiet, reasoned and as gripping as watching the deliberations of a “trial of the century” live and in-person. 

It would be terrific if seeing the play does what the artistic team behind the production would like it to do, generate conversation about the relationship between truth, facts and storytelling.  But if it doesn’t, The Lifespan of a Fact will make you think about all those things more intently, more actively and, in essence, leave you a changed person.  The acting, directing and production value just happen to push the entertainment quotient sky high. 

The Lifespan of a Fact

Through April 13, 2025

Oil Lamp Theater

1723 Glenview Road

Glenview, IL  60025

https://www.oillamptheater.org/mainstage-productions/the-lifespan-of-a-fact

*This review is also featured on https://www.theatreinchicago.com/!

It was a dark and stormy night (yes, it really was!) – the perfect ambiance for taking in one of theatre’s classic comedic thrillers, Ira Levin’s Deathtrap, staged by BrightSide Theatre at North Central College’s Meiley-Swallow Hall, in Naperville.

For knowledgeable theatre buffs, Deathtrap holds the record for the longest-running comedic thriller on Broadway. It was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Play, and was later adapted for the screen, starring Michael Caine and Christopher Reeve.

It’s the story of world-famous playwright Sidney Bruhl, who for the past 11 years has been riding the fading fame of his one and only hit play, The Murder Game. Having to squeak by on his wife’s income and forego his once lavish lifestyle, Sidney is looking for a way to regain his fame – and fortune.

As the play opens, Sidney is reading a manuscript that arrived in the mail from one of his seminar students. Much to his chagrin, the script is brilliant, and in his estimation, bound to be a smash hit. Sidney shares his thoughts with his wife, Myra, and together the pair conspire to make the manuscript their own. While Myra promotes collaboration (with Bruhl’s name taking top billing, of course), Sidney has a more sinister solution to their dilemma in mind.

At Sidney’s invitation, the young playwright, Clifford Anderson, arrives at their secluded Connecticut farmhouse, to discuss the manuscript. What ensues is a series of twists and turns, unexpected and shocking events, that keeps the audience guessing as to what will happen next. Throw in a hilarious neighbor, Helga ten Dorp, who just happens to be a noted psychic whose suspicions are spiked by the strange goings-on at the Bruhl’s house, and you have all the ingredients for an entertaining and lively evening.

Under the skillful direction of Jason Harrington, who directed BrightSide’s The Odd Couple last season, the cast turns in a well-paced and skilled performance. Even for those familiar with the plot, as I was, I found myself jumping and gasping at all the right places and thoroughly engaged throughout the evening.

Scott Kelley stars as Bruhl and turns in a convincing performance as the washed-up playwright looking for an easy way out of his writer’s block. Kelley has appeared in numerous other BrightSide productions, including the 2021 Miracle on 34^th Street, and is a veteran actor on the Chicago theatre scene. His hapless and anxiety-ridden wife, Myra, is excellently portrayed by Marianne Embree, who is appearing in her third BrightSide production.

Tyler Szarabajka, who plays the young playwright, Clifford Anderson, is making his professional debut in Deathtrap. He plays the role with just the right amount of cockiness and youthful assurance that makes him a great foil to his uptight, older mentor and hero. And Lisa Braatz absolutely shines as the quirky psychic, Helga ten Dorp, as she makes one outlandish prediction after another as she “senses” the pain and trauma in the room. The cast is rounded out by John Zimmerman as Porter Milgrim, the staid family friend and attorney for the couple, who brings a modicum of somberness to the proceedings – until the final scene!

Adding to the overall experience of the production is the theatre itself. Located on North Central College’s campus, just a few blocks off downtown, this gem of a theatre offers theatregoers an intimate and cozy interaction with the performers. There’s not a bad seat in the house, and you feel as if you are in on the action because of the proximity to the actors.

BrightSide Theatre, under Artistic Director Jeffrey Cass and Executive Director Julie Ann Kornak, is now in its 13^th season. Billed as Naperville’s only professional theatre performing in the historic downtown district, BrightSide has won “Best of Naperville” Live Entertainment Venue for the past six years. Even though I’ve lived in Naperville for years, this was my first introduction to BrightSide Theatre, and I was not disappointed.

For theatre-enthusiasts, or anyone looking for an entertaining night at the theatre, without the fuss and bother of going downtown Chicago, BrightSide’s Deathtrap production will more than satisfy. Add in its location right off the downtown with access to Naperville’s many and varied dining options, and you have the perfect combination for dinner and theatre.

You can catch Deathtrap at North Central’s Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville, now through March 24^th. Ticket information can be found at www.BrightSidetheatre.com or by phone at 630-447-TIXS (8497).