From left, Susan Lagsdin, Wesley Wilcox and Mark Easton make up the cast of “The Lifespan of a Fact,” opening Friday at The Merc Playhouse in Twisp.
Merc production weighs the essence of truth
Fact: in 2002, a 16-year-old named Levi Presley jumped from the observation deck of Las Vegas’s Stratosphere Hotel, plummeting 1,149 feet to his death.
Fact: following Presley’s suicide, author John D’Agata was commissioned by Harper’s Magazine to write an essay called “What Happens Here,” examining the culture of suicide in the tourist-centered city.
Fact: D’Agata’s unconventional literary approach — which incorporated his own experience working for the city’s suicide hotline — resulted in a years-long publication delay. “What Happens Here” finally went to print in 2010 in “The Believer,” after a noteworthy fact-checking debate.
Fact: in 2012, D’Agata and the fact-checker, Jim Fingal, co-authored a book called “The Lifespan of a Fact,” which juxtaposed D’Agata’s original essay with Fingal’s comments and questions.
Fact: on Friday, April 14, at 7 p.m., “The Lifespan of a Fact,” the play based on the book, will open in a Readers Theater production at The Merc Playhouse.
Director Don Nelson (who is also the owner/editor of the Methow Valley News and the likely editor/fact-checker of this article) said that “The Lifespan of a Fact” is “a fictionalized version of a real event, meant to replicate the experience of the book.”
Although Nelson didn’t hand pick the script, he serves on The Merc’s program committee. When “The Lifespan of a Fact” rose to the top of the script heap, as the journalist in the room Nelson emerged as the logical director.
That suited Nelson just fine. “I was happy to take the script,” he said. “The issue of journalistic verisimilitude is contemporary; it’s what we do every day in the newspaper business.”
Nelson noted, “In the public forum we are all familiar with the struggle about what to believe and what not to. How does an independent reader vet information? You have to ask, ‘What is the source?’ It all really comes down to trusting the source.”
“The Lifespan of a Fact,” Nelson said, “drills down to the heart of the discussion of narrative nonfiction, where storytelling is key.” Journalism and storytelling lie on a continuum, Nelson agreed, and the best journalism exists in the space that includes honest storytelling.
The central conflict in the play comes from the clash between D’Agata’s desire to “universalize the experience of Presley’s suicide” and Fingal’s “literal and linear” focus on what is often referred to as “just the facts, ma’am,” Nelson said. “Basically, D’Agata conveys the truth of the event, but manipulates it to the benefit of his story. Fingal keeps pointing out things that aren’t literally honest, and D’Agata keeps saying those things don’t matter. That’s the clash.”
“The Lifespan of a Fact” centers around three characters: D’Agata the author, played by Merc veteran actor/director Mark Easton; Emily Penrose the editor, played by Methow Valley Community Theater co-founder Susan Lagsdin; and Fingal the millennial fact-checker, played by Merc newcomer Wesley Wilcox, owner of Methow Motion.
“It’s a tight storyline,” Nelson said. “John [D’Agata] tells stories within stories — I’ve been calling them parables. He constantly questions what a fact is. Jim [Fingal] just wants the story to be right. Emily [Penrose] is under pressure to get the article to print and to keep the magazine afloat by publishing stories that are appealing to both readers and advertisers. She has to mediate between both points of view. She has to make sure the story isn’t problematic — this could be a career maker or breaker for her.”
True to life
This central dilemma is all-too familiar to Nelson. “The dialog in the play pretty accurately reflects the kinds of discussions that go along with these types of articles, how we sort out these questions. Everyone has an outcome that is important to them,” he said.
“The Lifespan of a Fact,” Nelson said, “puts the audience in the position of following along with the discussion and seeing where it goes. Do we publish or do we not?”
When the play opened on Broadway in 2018, Cherry Jones starred as Penrose, Bobby Cannavale played D’Agata, and Daniel Radcliffe — who as Harry Potter spent years in the liminal zone between fantasy and reality — served as Fingal, the Harvard-educated fact-checker.
It’s an illustrious set of footsteps to follow in. But the script is provocative, Nelson said, and with just three actors, the local cast has been able to keep pace with the demands of the script. “Mark has been a part of Merc stage productions so often, we’re really able to benefit from his background, while Susan has an incredible experience with theater and an intuitive sense of what works. Plus, she looks like the quintessential Manhattan-based magazine editor,” Nelson said. “Wesley is a great foil to both of them — he comes across really well in the role of a smart and somewhat arrogant but also insecure fact-checker.”
Nelson calls “The Lifespan of a Fact” a “comedy of conflict,” likening it to Aaron Sorkin comedy — smart, snappy dialog, with a lot to say about the process of truth-seeking in journalism. The play contains adult themes and language and may not be suitable for children.
Performed in the Readers Theater format, “The Lifespan of a Fact” employs minimal blocking, sets, props and costuming. In Readers Theater, the dialog and the storyline carry the show, enhanced by actors’ facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice.
Audiences can learn something from “The Lifespan of a Fact,” Nelson said. “The issues addressed in the script are real-world discussions in journalism. There is a process that gets things from point A to point B, but it can be very equivocal and ambivalent. It doesn’t mean anyone or everyone is wrong. It’s complicated.” Show up with an open mind, Nelson advised.
“The Lifespan of a Fact” runs Friday-Saturday April 14, 15, 21, and 22 at 7 p.m. and on Sunday, April 23, at 2 p.m. All shows will include an intermission. Admission is by donation. For more information, visit www.mercplayhouse.org.
