【Shanghai】Broadway Comedy 'The Lifespan of a Fact'

Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre · Global Stage Performance Season. Broadway comedy ‘The Lifespa[...]

Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre · Global Stage Performance Season. Broadway comedy ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’. A contest between objective facts and subjective truths.

Story Outline: Jim Finger, a fact-checker who has just graduated from Harvard University, is interning at a prestigious but declining magazine. John D’Agata, a talented senior writer, has written an article on the news event of a 16-year-old boy’s suicide. Once this eloquent article is published, it is highly likely to revive the magazine. Emily Penrose, the magazine editor, assigns Jim to fact-check John’s article. Jim finds multiple pieces of information in the article that do not conform to the facts, but John refuses to make any changes to the article. The two people who hold different opinions start a debate about objective facts and subjective truths, which is humorous and thought-provoking. At the same time, the deadline for submission is getting closer and closer. Where will this article end up…

*Fact Check refers to the establishment of a special fact-checking department and professional ‘fact-checkers’ by the media to ensure the accuracy of the facts published and released.

Production: Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. Producer: Zhang Huiqing. Supervisors: Tian Shui. Artistic Director: Yu Rongjun. Co-supervisors: He Nian. Producer: Huang Yiping. Screenwriters: Jeremy Kareken [USA], David Murrell [USA], Gordon Farrell [USA]. Original authors: John D’Agata [USA], Jim Fingal [USA]. Script translator: Tian Hongyi. Director: Xie Shuai. Stage design: Shen Li. Lighting design: Chen Lu. Multimedia design and production: Hu Tianji. Costume and makeup design: Leng Jia. Prop design: Shao Zhendong. Sound design: Wang Yixuan. Technical design: Xu Jinjia. Stage supervisor: Xue Chen.

Starring: Liu Xuanrui, Liu Peng, Chen Jiaoying.

Performance time: November 1 – November 17, 2024, 19:30 (no performance on Monday, only 14:00 matinee on Sunday).

Performance location: Drama Salon of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre (3rd floor, 288 Anfu Road, Xuhui District).

Ticket prices: 180/280/380 yuan.

*Recommended for audiences aged 12 and above.

Award-winning Situation: At the award ceremony of the 2024 Shanghai Jing’an Modern Theatre Valley ‘One Theatre Awards’ held in early May this year, ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ won two major awards: ‘Annual Best Small Theatre’ award and ‘Annual Best Actor’ award (Liu Xuanrui).

‘Annual Best Small Theatre’ Award Winning Comment: What is the ‘fact’ behind the suicide of a 16-year-old boy? In 100 minutes, the continuous in-depth intense debate triggers profound thinking on the truth and news description in the era of we-media. The stage presentation compresses redundant adjectives. The use of multimedia at the end makes the drama unexpectedly reversed and effortlessly pushes the dramatic tension to the extreme. It fully reflects the characteristics of small theatres being expansive and profound in a small space.

‘Annual Best Actor’ Award – Liu Xuanrui Winning Comment: Confident and calm, he has excellent control over character and stage rhythm, pays attention to realistic details. Humorous yet serious, not creating comedy ‘burdens’ for the sake of it. In a relaxed atmosphere, in-depth discussions are held on topics such as facts, truth, and art.

Audience Reviews of ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’: ‘A surprising small theatre’. ‘Solid text, excellent interpretation, and exquisite production’. ‘A sincere work of a small theatre that returns to the essence of drama’. ‘Aesthetics and depth are both on point!’.

Today, I’m back on the third floor of the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. I recommend everyone to watch ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’. There are laughs and tears. I didn’t expect it. In several places, I was moved to tears quietly. When laughing, I was doubled over. The cast combination is superb. They are all teachers I like very much. The ‘Double Liu’ combination I just saw last month and teacher Chen Jiaoying whom I will see again after July. The stage design is exquisite, combined with the application of multimedia. In terms of the overall style, the straight lines of the blinds and the curves of the sofa chairs. Personally, I feel that it subtly implies two different viewpoints and logics, rationality and sensibility. Regarding news-themed works, there happens to be a news-themed TV drama recently. So the word ‘fact check’ is no longer unfamiliar. I think the viewpoints of the two people are not just about right or wrong. At first glance, both seem very logical. John’s ‘Details serve the story.’, and Jim has been doing fact-checking, looking for evidence to verify each point. And the editor-in-chief Emily is not just mediating. She has her own starting point and her own ideas. I found that I don’t actually stand on either side. I just wonder how many works claiming to be non-fiction I have read (not to mention academic papers and such. And it goes without saying that novels must be fictional). When reading non-fiction works, will I have an urge to do fact-checking in my heart? Where exactly is the degree of artistic processing in literary and artistic works?

Thanks to the Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre for giving us a wonderful night. The premiere was a success! Thanks to the three actors, the director, and all the people on and behind the stage.
Audience member CeciliaFei commented on Sina Weibo: Thank you to Shanghai Theatre for introducing this play, originally performed on Broadway in 2018 starring Daniel Radcliffe, known for his role as ‘Harry Potter’. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time! I came to the Chinese premiere as soon as it opened, and it completely met my expectations. The text is truly strong, with brilliant dialogues and an especially good stage design at the end, making it a very meaningful work! It has been a long time since I’ve seen such a thought-provoking play!

Audience member Lucy commented on Sina Weibo: This is a play chosen by Shanghai Theatre, said to be a comedy, but in the end, it’s all tears, with depth. The last part is really beautifully tragic, with the story’s final text on the big screen slowly turning into ‘snow’, which spreads to the real world and eventually turns into ashes on the ground. When the writer stands at the place where the boy once stood and makes those 10 phone calls, it feels so cold. Perhaps the boy was standing there, making his final struggle, even more tragic than the little match girl, without even a match. The writer must think that if he had been better when he received the call, the boy might not have died.

Audience member Fengyun First Bean commented on Sina Weibo: I boldly chose the Chinese premiere of ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ because I am interested in topics like the timeliness and truthfulness of news. If my expectation level upon entering the theater was 60%, then the satisfaction in my mind after the performance was 90%. I am always more tolerant (in terms of paying) and more critical (in terms of evaluation) of works about suicide. After watching ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’, on the way to the subway station, I mentioned the play’s lines with my companions, reciting ‘The sun has set, it’s evening now’, and tears filled my eyes. I feel that a part of me has also jumped from the highest point of the gambling city.

The exquisite script structure and the ingenious character positions complete a debate that tears off the comedy coat. The context of the whole play is very clear. Three characters with natural positions have a mild-to-intense-to-touching argument on how to write an observation article about a boy’s suicide by jumping off a building. Jim, an intern with a double major in computer science and journalism, is thorough in his pursuit of details and data. John, a writer who is good at playing with words and extremely proud of his works, wants to use art to dig out the truth behind the story. Emily, the person in charge of the magazine who is busy and calm and mediates in all directions and truly tugs-of-war with society, attempts to find a balance between a good article and a good report.

The authenticity of news and the creativity of art seem to be both without fault, but everywhere seem to turn into an abyss because of human stubbornness and entanglement. Fortunately, this story does not have to argue about right and wrong. In the end, we see light words turn into heavy fragments and fall from the sky. Just like the boy we no longer have the opportunity to enter his heart, who shatters the false glitz of the casino with his young body. But after dawn the next day, the body is taken away, the blood is washed away, and then the sounds of people and traffic cover it. Then at dusk, the bricks and tiles are printed red. Then at nightfall, the singing and dancing and colorful lights are rekindled. Who will remember the boy who made more than a dozen help calls from a high building but was not answered?

Also, it is my favorite stage design and lighting design among small-theater productions this year, which has healed my fatigue at work this week.

–Comment by audience Xiaojiu on Xiaohongshu.

It’s so good. It’s the number one new play of mine this year. Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre is really of high quality in the field of multi-text ‘quarreling’ (debate) it is good at!

The story discusses that when making a non-fiction report, how should the boundary and proportion between ‘truth’ and ‘artistic processing’ be divided? Is the ‘true report’ seen by readers the fact? Even if it is a ‘fact’, is it already an no longer ‘effective’ result given after being’subjectively misread’ by the interviewee… The different views of the three people on the stage, and everyone’s own experiences and stories support their positions. Between the game and discussion, deeper human emotions are brought out. Such a debate will always occur and there will never be a correct answer. But when the three people sit together and read that report, as the phone rings, the black and white words turn into fragments and fall. The audience will also have their own conclusion in their hearts. When the person reading the ‘fact’ is also choosing the part they subjectively want to believe, is the ‘fact’ still effective?
As an audience member, I am subjectively siding with John, yet I also feel particularly sorry for Jim. He insists on something that seems most essential, yet it is the most difficult in this environment. Today marks the premiere, and at the end, all the on-stage and off-stage staff came up on stage for a bow. Director Xie was interviewed in front of the billboard before the show, his long legs impossible to ignore. When the show returned, everyone was a bit apprehensive about the audience’s feedback for this new play! But the actual result was exceptionally good, so much so that I am excitedly recommending it on all platforms! I even want to add a performance of ‘Art’ to watch Director Xie argue. — DJ’s comment on Xiaohongshu

I’ve been looking forward to this play for a long time, or it could also be called ‘A Boy Named Levi Decides to Die’. It tells a heavy topic in a seemingly humorous and witty way.

I also enjoy non-fiction writing, so I am still intrigued by the play’s exploration of facts and truth. Do we want cold hard facts or benevolently processed truth? What does truth mean to different people? At the end, the three characters read the report aloud, which made me want to cry. The open-ended conclusion is also great.

After the play, I learned from the creators that it is adapted from a true event and was just staged on Broadway in 2018, perhaps the fastest ‘import’ of a play? It can be ranked among my best of the year. — gyydouble’s comment on Xiaohongshu

The full performance is open from November 14th to November 24th, with performance times and durations subject to the actual event.