Tag Archives: journalism

How ‘Lifespan of a Fact’ grew from a compelling book to a funny and timely stage play

by Thomas Floyd

When Jeremy Kareken and David Murrell set out to adapt the 2012 book “The Lifespan of a Fact” for the Broadway stage, the longtime creative partners thought they were tackling an auspiciously straightforward assignment.

The source material, for one, came in at a relatively slim 128 pages. But more notably, the text was entirely composed of pithy exchanges between essayist John D’Agata and fact-checker Jim Fingal as they worked their way, sentence by sentence, through the former’s nonfiction piece for Believer magazine about the 2002 suicide of a Las Vegas teenager.

“It seemed almost designed to be adapted into a play,” Murrell says during a recent video chat alongside Kareken, “because it’s just dialogue.”

“Emphasis,” Kareken interjects, “on the word ‘seems.’”

Kareken and Murrell soon came to realize that the task was more imposing than they anticipated. Between March 2012, when they first discussed adapting the book, and October 2018, when “The Lifespan of a Fact” opened on Broadway, the duo traded countless drafts, welcomed Gordon Farrell as a third co-writer, and incorporated the ideas of director Leigh Silverman and original stars Daniel Radcliffe, Bobby Cannavale and Cherry Jones.

Along the way, the “fake news” phenomenon had begun to permeate the political discourse. The play’s central debate — about how a larger truth can sometimes be at odds with factual accuracy — remains remarkably resonant.

“At what point are the facts irrelevant to the essence of the story?” Farrell asks in a phone interview. “That turned out to be a topic of national and global concern. None of the three of us knew or expected that. So somehow or other, we just stumbled onto the zeitgeist.”

Murrell first came across “Lifespan” when he read a scathing review of the book and sent it Kareken’s way, leaving both playwrights curious enough to read D’Agata and Fingal’s work for themselves. Struck by the partly true, partly fictionalized back-and-forth between the artistically inclined D’Agata and the comically meticulous Fingal, they considered penning a movie version or an experimental off-Broadway play before producer Norman Twain acquired the rights and suggested they write for a Broadway audience.

The playwrights decided early on to condense the years-long fact-checking process that played out in real life and add the ticking clock of a deadline, as the character of Fingal is assigned to work on D’Agata’s essay over one weekend. Kareken and Murrell also turned the essay’s editor — heard from only briefly in the book — into a fully fleshed out character who functions as an arbiter between D’Agata and Fingal. And they largely narrowed the play’s focus to the disputes over D’Agata’s opening paragraph in the name of brevity.

“Norman Twain said, ‘Guys, this is an abstract intellectual argument, so this play has got to move’ — and he literally said this — ‘like the Jesus lizard,’” Kareken recalls. “You know, that lizard that runs so quickly over the surface of the river that it doesn’t sink.”

Some realizations, however, took longer than others. Kareken and Murrell were well into the writing process before they came upon one crucial epiphany: They had to get the characters of D’Agata and Fingal in the same room. Although the book depicts a series of long-distance exchanges between the two, the play puts Fingal on a cross-country trip to D’Agata’s Las Vegas home as their Socratic dialogue unfolds in person.

“We were providing dud after dud of drafts — it just wasn’t going anywhere,” Kareken says. “There is such an invasive force of Jim’s character. I mean, he is the engine behind the whole play. By making that physical, that was kind of the thing that finally made us think that this was a possibility.”

In the fall of 2015, Twain floated the possibility of asking another writer to tackle an ending that Kareken and Murrell agreed wasn’t clicking. That’s when Farrell, a veteran playwright who had provided notes on previous drafts, formally boarded the project. After attending a fall 2013 reading, Farrell remembers sharing “strong words” with Kareken and Murrell about that conclusion.

“There was a lot of genius writing, and so much of it was so, so funny and so sharp through the first two-thirds of the play,” Farrell says. “Then they maintained that tone right up to the end, and that’s where it went awry.”

Specifically, Farrell was struck by the poignancy of D’Agata’s essay and perplexed that the play didn’t include more of the writer’s text, especially when it came to the suicide at its core. Upon joining the team, Farrell recalls, “It didn’t take me very long to get into it” and rewrite the final third to dwell more on the human side of the story.

After Twain’s death at age 85 in August 2016, Jeffrey Richards took the lead in producing the project. A November 2017 reading with Radcliffe gave Richards the confidence to forge ahead as the play made its way to Broadway. With Farrell tied up with his teaching duties at New York University, Kareken and Murrell worked with the director Silverman, dramaturge John Dias and the play’s stars to polish the script during rehearsals in the summer of 2018.

By that time, Donald Trump had risen to the presidency and was making false or misleading claims by the thousands. In January 2017, his counselor Kellyanne Conway infamously coined the phrase “alternative facts.” But as Kareken, Murrell and Farrell all emphasized, that topicality was no more than a happy coincidence. With “Lifespan” now being staged at regional theaters across the country, stories such as the spread of coronavirus misinformation and Rep. George Santos’s (R-N.Y.) résumé fabrications underscore the play’s enduring relevance.

“We’re the luckiest playwrights in the world because we look like geniuses,” Murrell says. “But it had absolutely nothing to do with Trump or Kellyanne or anything like that. We started in 2012, and then things happened in the world. It just happened to converge in a very fortunate way.”

This post is reprinted from a Washington Post story by Thomas Floyd on the opening of The Lifespan of a Fact at the Keegan Theatre.

See the play. Stay for ‘Breaking It Down.’

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by France-Luce Benson

The Fountain’s Breaking It Down program is designed to build community and deepen the impact of a play through a variety of events before and after performances. Our preshow events may include art exhibitions and talks that invite audiences into the world of the play. Our post show discussions create a space for our audiences to gather with the artistic teams, scholars, journalists, and community leaders to unpack the themes explored, and provide a platform to share personal connections to the work.

March 1: Q&A with the cast of Human Interest Story

HIS_0123Engage in a post-show conversation with actors Tanya Alexander, Richard Azurdia, Aleisha Force, James Harper, Matt Kirkwood, Rob Nagle, and Tarina Pouncy. Get Tickets

March 8 @ 1pm: Meet artist Stuart Perlman

PerlmanStuart Perlman’s Faces Of Homelessness portrait project has been exhibited throughout Los Angeles, covered on Public Radio (KPCC), featured in print in Column One of the front page of the Los Angeles Times, and in other national and international publications including The Guardian (London), Taipei Times (Taiwan), Vanity Fair Italia and a cover story in the Jewish Journal. It will be on display at The Fountain for the duration of the run.

Perlman will talk about what inspired the project, and how his connections with these individuals have impacted his life in ways he never imagined. Get tickets now.

Stuart Perlman has been a psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in West Los Angeles for 40 years. He received a Ph.D. from UCLA in clinical psychology, and a second Ph.D. in psychoanalysis.  He has published many articles in psychoanalytic journals, and authored the book, The Therapist’s Emotional Survival: Dealing with the Pain of Exploring Trauma. His new book, Struggle in Paradise, is about homeless individuals, featuring moving oil-on-canvas portraits, life stories and follow-ups. This painting project has been nominated for the Best Art of the Year Award by the National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis. After a hiatus of over 25 years, Dr. Perlman returned to one of his early passions, painting. He has devoted thousands of hours to painting the experiences of the homeless and illuminating their humanity and pain. Through portraiture, a style traditionally used to immortalize the rich, famous and powerful, Dr. Perlman reminds us that these homeless individuals, too, are to be valued: “If we can see into their faces and learn their stories — their hopes, dreams, accomplishments and fears — we can no longer pretend that they don’t exist…we can no longer look the other way.” www.stuartperlmanartist.com

March 15:  Inside L.A.’s Homeless Crisis

homeless manYou see them everywhere. At freeway off-ramps, under bridges, in tents. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has declared homelessness “the great humanitarian crisis of our time.” What are we doing about it? A post-show discussion with panelists Anthony Conley (Covenant House) and John Billingsley (Hollywood Food Coalition).  Get tickets now. 

March 19 @ 7p.m: Screening of Stuart Perlman’s Struggle in Paradise

Struggle in Paradise“Best Movie of the Year” National Association for the Advancement of Psychoanalysis.
Nominated Best Documentary- Pasadena International Film Festival. Honorable Mention- American Psychological Association Film Festival. Struggle in Paradise is the gripping story of the skyrocketing number of homeless people living and dying on the streets of Los Angeles. I have been shocked at the amount of trauma that people have sustained that contributed to their homelessness and, once on the streets, are repetitively traumatized. View the Trailer

March 22: Truth in American Journalism 

man-hands-reading-boyHow do you get your news? The print edition delivered at your door? Online? Join the post-show conversation with local journalists as we examine how the internet has impacted print newspapers around the country. How has the invention of “fake news” influenced ethics in reporting? What is the truth? Who decides? Get tickets

March 29 @ 5pm: Sunday Supper at The Center 

russell-westbrook-why-not-foundation-8th-annual-thanksgiving-dinnerJoin us at The Center in Hollywood where the Fountain will host one of their monthly “Supper Sunday” dinners. Following the performance, we will head to The Center where we will prepare (or purchase), serve, set up, and clean up after a meal. The most important aspect of Supper Sunday is that WE will dine WITH the individuals we are serving. Sharing a meal is a beautiful opportunity for the housed and unhoused members of our community to gain greater understanding, empathy, and connection. Order now

Feb 15 – April 5: Donation Drive for our homeless community 

April Goddard

Fountain patron April Goddard donates items to the homeless at tonight’s preview of Human Interest Story. 

Throughout the run of Human Interest Story The Fountain will accept donations to be distributed to various Homeless organizations in our community.  Items most needed are:

  • Toiletries (toilet paper; wet wipes; toothpaste/toothbrushes; mouthwash; body wash) Feminine products (sanitary pads, tampons)
  • Gently Used Clothing (especially winter clothing, socks, shoes)
  • Men’s and Women’s Underwear (New, all sizes)
  • Blankets

Bins will be set up in front of the theatre before each performance and all items will be distributed to various organizations on a weekly basis. You need not have a ticket to the show to bring donations. All are welcome!

France-Luce Benson is the Community Engagement Coordinator for the Fountain Theatre. Contact her: franceluce@fountaintheatre.com 

Fountain celebrates 30 years with electrifying season of premieres in 2020

FT night cars 2018Deborah Culver and Stephen Sachs founded the Fountain Theatre in an intimate, Spanish-style, East Hollywood building that belies the sizable local impact and international reach of the company’s acclaimed and award-winning productions. Now entering its 30th year as one of the most highly regarded theaters in Los Angeles, the Fountain is announcing a celebratory 2020 season of dynamic premieres and events.

“Thirty years ago, when we first entered this theater and stepped onto its stage, we knew we had found it. A place to call home,” Culver and Sachs said in a joint statement. “Since that April three decades ago, our charming haven on Fountain Avenue has been home to thousands of artists and millions of patrons. Fountain plays are now performed worldwide and seen on TV. Our flamenco concerts are first class. Our outreach programs change lives. Our legacy is noteworthy. And our future looks bigger and brighter than ever.”

The season opener, the world premiere of Human Interest Story — written and directed by Sachs who, in addition to his role as co-founder and co-artistic director of the Fountain, is an internationally acclaimed playwright — will open on Feb. 15. In this timely drama about homelessness, celebrity worship and truth in American journalism, newspaper columnist Andy Kramer (Rob Nagle) is laid off when a corporate takeover downsizes his paper. In retaliation, Andy fabricates a letter to his column from an imaginary homeless woman named “Jane Doe” who announces she will kill herself on the 4th of July because of the heartless state of the world. When the letter goes viral, Andy is forced to hire a homeless woman (Tanya Alexander) to stand-in as the fictitious Jane. She becomes an overnight internet sensation and a national women’s movement is ignited.

Slated for Spring, 2020, the Los Angeles premiere of If I Forget by Steven Levenson (Dear Evan Hansen) will be directed by Fountain producing director Simon Levy. In this viciously funny, unflinchingly honest portrait of a Jewish family and a culture at odds with itself, a liberal Jewish studies professor reunites with his two sisters to celebrate their father’s 75th birthday. Both political and deeply personal, this play about history, responsibility, and what we’re willing to sacrifice for a new beginning was a New York Times “Critic’s Pick,” while DC Metro calls it “one of the greatest Jewish plays of this century.”

Summer brings the Los Angeles premiere of An Octoroon by 2016 MacArthur fellow Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who won the Obie for this radical, incendiary and subversively funny riff on Dion Boucicault’s once-popular 1859 mustache-twirling melodrama set on a Louisiana plantation. A spectacular collision of the antebellum South and 21st-century cultural politics, An Octoroon twists a funhouse world of larger-than-life stereotypes into blistering social commentary to create a gasp-inducing satire that The New York Times calls “This decade’s most eloquent theatrical statement on race in America today.” Judith Moreland directs.

Another noteworthy Los Angeles premiere closes out the season in the Fall: Escaped Alone is a caustically funny and surreal afternoon of tea and calamity by celebrated British playwright Caryl Churchill. In a serene British garden three old friends are joined by a neighbor to engage in amiable chitchat — with a side of apocalyptic horror. The women’s talk of grandchildren and TV shows breezily intersperses with tales of terror in a quietly teetering world where all is not what it seems. In his Off-Broadway review for Escaped AloneNew York Times theater critic Ben Brantley hailed the play as “wondrous” and Caryl Churchill as “the most dazzlingly inventive living dramatist in the English language.”

Also coming up in 2020:

Forever Flamenco: The dancers, musicians and singers of the Fountain’s monthly series will continue to delight audiences throughout 2020. The Los Angeles Times hails Forever Flamenco as “the earth and fire of first-class flamenco,” and LA Splash says, “the way you feel when you walk out of a Forever Flamenco performance is pretty darn fabulous.”

Hollywood Dreams: CBS star and Fountain family member Simone Missick (All Rise) and Fountain board chair Dorothy Wolpert will be honored at the Fountain’s dazzling 30th Anniversary Gala at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel on SaturdayJune 27.

Walking the Beat Hollywooda pioneering arts education program for inner city high school youth and police officers, will return for its second year this August.

The Candidate: The Fountain’s third annual celebrity reading at Los Angeles City Hall, a stage adaptation of the 1972 Academy Award-winning movie that starred Robert Redford as a young, straight-talking candidate for the U.S. Senate, is set for ThursdayOct. 22. One night only.

For more information about the Fountain Theatre’s 2020 30th anniversary season, call (323) 663-1525 or go to www.FountainTheatre.com

VIDEO: ‘Human Interest Story’ is “a beautiful story, about as current as you can get.”

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PHOTOS: Actors gather at first rehearsal for world premiere of new play ‘Human Interest Story’

ss talk wide

Playwright/Director Stephen Sachs shares his thoughts on the new play.

Here we go! A new year. A new season. Company members assembled on Tuesday for the first rehearsal of the upcoming world premiere of Human Interest Story, written and directed by Stephen Sachs. The riveting drama opens Feb 15.

The cast includes Tanya Alexander, Richard Azurdia, Aleisha Force, James Harper, Matt Kirkwood, Rob Nagle, Tarina Pouncy.

In Human Interest Story, Newspaper columnist Andy Kramer is laid off when a corporate takeover downsizes the City Chronicle. In retaliation, Andy fabricates a letter to his column from an imaginary homeless woman named “Jane Doe” who announces she will kill herself on the 4th of July because of the heartless state of the world. When the letter goes viral, Andy is forced to hire a homeless woman to stand-in as the fictitious Jane Doe. She becomes an overnight internet sensation and a national women’s movement is ignited.

Enjoy these photos!

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VIDEO: World Premiere ‘Human Interest Story’ to launch Fountain Theatre 2020 season on Feb 15

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Now casting: Fountain Theatre world premiere ‘Human Interest Story’

HIS prelim image

The Fountain Theatre is now casting roles available in the world premiere of the new play, Human Interest Story, written and directed by Stephen Sachs.  The timely  drama examining homelessness and ethics in journalism is scheduled to open February 15, 2020.

Newspaper columnist Andy Kramer is laid off when a corporate takeover downsizes the City Chronicle. In retaliation, Andy fabricates a letter to his column from an imaginary homeless woman named “Jane Doe” who announces she will kill herself on the 4th of July because of the heartless state of the world. When the letter goes viral, Andy is forced to hire a homeless woman to stand-in as the fictitious Jane Doe. She becomes an overnight internet sensation and a national women’s movement is ignited. A funny and riveting tale on the ethics of American journalism, homelessness, the worship of celebrity and the need to tell your own story.

Now Casting the Following Roles:

BETTY FRAZIER/JANE DOE
35 to 45 years old, Black/African American female. Laid-off elementary school teacher Betty Frazier has been homeless two years. She becomes an overnight media sensation as the fictitious Jane Doe. Strong-willed, compassionate, deep feeling, smart, nobody’s fool. She has come from the hell of darkness and is now reaching for light. Fiercely fighting to be seen and be heard, she discovers her own voice. The one she always had.

MILLER/BAUMAN
Caucasian male. Seeking a versatile actor to play many roles including Miller, a cold-blooded, ruthless newspaper editor, and Bauman, a scheming far-right political campaign aide.

HERNANDEZ/MORAN
40 to 50 years old, Hispanic male. Seeking a versatile actor to play many roles including Hernandez, an ardent by-the-book newspaper Assistant Editor, and Moran, a polite sturdy bodyguard.

NAKESHA/TV HOST
35 to 50 years old, Black/African American female. Seeking a versatile actor to play many roles including Nakesha, a hard-working impassioned school principal and TV Host, a razor-sharp intellectual black feminist.

Rehearsal starts Monday, January 6th, 2020. The production runs February 15 – April 5, 2020.  Contract: AEA 99-Seat. Auditions: November 11 -22, 2019.

Email headshot & resume: casting@fountaintheatre.com

Fountain Theatre to present ‘West Wing’ cast reading of ‘All the President’s Men’ at LA City Hall

ATPM cast image“Nothing’s riding on this except the First Amendment of the Constitution, freedom of the press, and maybe the future of the country.” — Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee, as portrayed by Jason Robards in ‘All The President’s Men’

Bradley Whitford (The Post, Get Out, The West Wing), Joshua Malina (Scandal, The West Wing), Richard Schiff (The Good Doctor, The West Wing) and Ed Begley, Jr. (Future Man, St. Elsewhere, The West Wing) will head the cast of a special, one-night only reading of William Goldman’s screenplay for All The President’s Men, presented by the award-winning Fountain Theatre in partnership with the City of Los Angeles and with exclusive permission from Warner Bros Entertainment and Simon & Schuster. The free event will be hosted by Los Angeles City Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell and will take place in the John Ferraro Council Chamber of Los Angeles City Hall on Saturday, January 27 at 7:30 p.m. A catered reception will follow in the City Hall Rotunda.

Based on the book by Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, the 1976 film All The President’s Men tells the story of their Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation of the Watergate scandal, which brought down the presidency of Richard M. Nixon.

“This high-profile reading will be a statement asserting the First Amendment, advocating freedom of the press and honoring the tenacity of American journalism in a free society,” says Fountain Theatre co-artistic director Stephen Sachs, who will direct the reading. “As the current administration is under investigation, the echo of Watergate rings loud and clear. Reporters from The New York Times and Washington Post have been heroes, warriors for our democracy, as they were forty-five years ago.”

According to Councilmember O’Farrell, “All the President’s Men is a reminder of the parallels between Richard Nixon and the corruption that brought his presidency to an end and the current state of corruption overshadowing the Donald Trump administration. I want to thank the Fountain Theatre for producing this live reading, which underscores the importance of art in its many forms that can illuminate the conditions that affect us as a nation and as a society.”

Adds Sachs “We are profoundly grateful to Councilmember Mitch O’Farrell’s office and the City of Los Angeles for taking the extraordinary and unprecedented action of hosting the reading at Los Angeles City Hall, in the City Council Chamber, as a sign of solidarity. I am very proud of our city.”

The event is co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Press Club, which exists to support, promote, and defend quality journalism in Southern California with the belief that a free press is crucial to a free society. Although admission to the reading is free of charge, any voluntary donations will support, in part, the Society of Professional Journalists, the nation’s oldest organization representing American journalists, founded to improve and protect journalism and dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press.

The Fountain Theatre is one of the most successful intimate theaters in Los Angeles, providing a creative home for multi-ethnic theater and dance artists. The Fountain has won over 225 awards, and Fountain projects have been seen across the U.S. and internationally. Recent highlights include being honored for its acclaimed 25th Anniversary Season in 2015 by Mayor Eric Garcetti and the Los Angeles City Council; the inclusion of the Fountain’s Citizen: An American Lyric in Center Theatre Group’s Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. The Fountain’s most recent production, the world premiere of Building the Wall by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, ran for five months and was named “L.A. hottest ticket” by the Los Angeles Times.

All The President’s Men takes place on SaturdayJan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the John Ferraro Council ChamberRoom 340 of Los Angeles City Hall200 N Spring St.Los Angeles, CA 90012. Admission is free. Seating is extremely limited. Please go to www.FountainFreePress.com or email  freepress@fountaintheatre.com to inquire. No walk-ups will be permitted.