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Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/1353262
serve a narrative truth. And I still believe this. "That idea is controversial enough within the literary world, but once the play came out on Broadway three years ago, the national conversation about facts had become unavoidably political," he goes on. "Our former president had introduced his epithet of 'fake news,' and his spokespeople started referring to 'alternative facts.' And suddenly the poor character of 'John' in the play was aligned with (in my opinion) a dangerous belief system that has caused a lot of lasting damage in our country. "When it comes to art and literature, I still believe that writers can take liberties with facts if doing so can serve the higher truth of a story. But in our lives, in our society, in our government, and in our daily human interactions with each other, we can only rely on facts. Doing anything less will put all of us in jeopardy, and it will risk destroying everything that I desperately hope Americans still collectively care about." Under the direction of Brenda Mashburn Nemec, veteran actor Michael Weir portrays D'Agata in the APT production. "He sees himself as a storyteller trying to get at deeper truths about who this particular teenager was and using his story to illustrate why anyone would decide to take their own life," Weir says of his character. "John is trying to tell a deeper story, some probably coming from his own experience, and most of the rigid details probably are unimportant for that. However, there is also the issue of how changing those details might affect the credibility of the story to the individual reader. That's the beauty of this play. Each audience member will have a different view on who is right and who is wrong, and that view may change as the play goes along." The moral of the story to Weir? "Approach everything you read, watch or listen to with an open mind." Tanner Pittman plays Jim Fingal, a Harvard-educated up-and-comer who takes the assignment to fact check D'Agata so seriously he flies to Las Vegas to do the job. "After a year fueled with misinformation and conflicting facts, I think this piece will resonate," Pittman says. "It speaks to the desire to find the truth in a world full of misrepresented information." In the middle stands Emily Primrose, the magazine editor who just wanted Fingal to make a good-faith effort that would satisfy the lawyers. "Emily … will ultimately be the one to decide if the essay gets published or not. Is he/she right or wrong," muses actress Andria Lickfelt. "I think that's one of the interesting things about this show — everyone thinks they're 'right.' Or maybe another way to look at it is that all three want the same thing — or a version of the same thing. John wants the piece to be emotionally true, Jim wants it to be accurate, and I just want to be able to print it because I believe it's a moving and rare piece of writing. "I don't know that there's necessarily a moral that comes from the show," Lickfelt continues. "It definitely gets you thinking about the line between fact and fiction. While the real events that inspired this play happened awhile back, I think if you didn't know that, you might think it had been written about right now. It's very timely. Maybe there will always be a slippery slope of fact versus fiction in what we read and watch." "There are times when the story is suspended between fact and truth, and those two words are not always interchangeable," says Nemec. 4 WHAT'S UP! MARCH 21-27, 2021 COVER STORY Lifespan Continued From Page 3 Emily Primrose, the editor, flies to Las Vegas to try to make peace with writer John D'Agata in "The Lifespan of a Fact." Andria Lickfelt plays Primrose, and Michael Weir is D'Agata in the APT production opening March 26. (Courtesy Photo/Chad Wigington for APT) "Emily … will ultimately be the one to decide if the essay gets published or not. Is he/she right or wrong," muses actress Andria Lickfelt. "I think that's one of the interesting things about this show — everyone thinks they're 'right.' Or maybe another way to look at it is that all three want the same thing — or a version of the same thing." (Courtesy Photo/Chad Wigington for APT)