The Lifespan of a Fact, a new play by Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell, and Gordon Farrell, and directed by Tony nominee Leigh Silverman, opened October 18 at Studio 54. It is based on the true events surrounding John D'Agata's essay "What Happens There" about the suicide of teenager Levi Presely. It will run for a 16-week engagement.
The play stars Bobby Cannavale as D'Agata, with Daniel Radcliffe as fact checker John Fingal and Cherry Jones as Emily Penrose, Fingal's demanding boss. The play explores the moral quandaries of what creative license is allowed in literary nonfiction, and dramatizes the working relationship between writer and fact checker.See what critics had to say below:
amNY (Matt Windman)
The Daily Beast (Tim Teeman)
Deadline (Greg Evans)
Entertainment Weekly (Leah Greenblatt)
The Guardian (Alexis Soloski)
The Hollywood Reporter (David Rooney)
The New York Post (Joe Dziemianowicz)
New York Stage Review (Melissa Rose Bernardo)
New York Stage Review (Jesse Oxfeld)
The New York Times (Jesse Green)
Time Out New York (Adam Feldman)
Variety (Marilyn Stasio)
Vulture (Sarah Holdren)
The Wall Street Journal (Terry Teachout)
The Wrap (Robert Hoffler)
The creative team includes Mimi Lien (scenic design), Linda Cho (costume design), Jen Schriever (lighting design), Palmer Hefferan (original music and sound design), and Lucy Mackinnon (projection design).
The Lifespan of a Fact is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Norman and Deanna Twain, Will Trice, Barbara H. Freitag, Suzanne Grant, Gold/Ross Productions, Jamie deRoy, Jennifer Manocherian, Barbara Manocherian, ManGol Productions, Carl Moellenberg/Wendy Federman, Ken Greiner, Van Kaplan, Dominick LaRuffa Jr., Marc David Levine, WitzEnd Productions, Eric Falkenstein/Brian Moreland, Caiola Productions, Remmel T. Dickinson, Jayne Baron Sherman, and Jacob Soroken Porter.
