The Lifespan of a Fact

It is sometimes ambitious for only three actors to hold the attention and interest of an audience for the duration of an entire play.  This is not the case however with the Theatre on Chester’s latest offering, The Lifespan of a Fact.  Karen Pattinson, Jordan Andrews and Martin Bell are all individually charismatic and work brilliantly together in this incredibly timely production.  Timely because the occurrence of apparently ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ are alive and well in the US Presidential election and also sit at the very heart of this play.

Pattinson is very strong as Emily Penrose, the editor of a reputable magazine.  She is convincingly busy, important and very expressive with both her voice and face.  She is always a pleasure to watch on stage.  Bell is very well cast as the initially arrogant, heavily sarcastic and ultimately vulnerable John D’Agata.  The Generation X in me particularly enjoyed his sardonic delivery.  D’Agata’s feature essay is being fact-checked and pulled apart syllable by syllable by a much younger and significantly green intern who is desperate to impress Emily.  This role, Jim Fingal, is excellently brought to life by Jordan Andrews.  He’s equal parts optimistic and painfully pedantic about the details in the story.  Andrews is apparently boundlessly talented with a natural flair for comedy.  I look forward to seeing more of him on stage in the future.

The scenery is appropriately simple as the action only takes place in two locations and the costumes are the casts own clothing.  There are some clever sound embellishments relating to the electronic communications but there is no need for gratuitous special effects or dazzling lighting changes.  This play is a wonderful example of the fact that with talented humans on stage there is no need for compensation via elaborate (unnecessary) production additions.  Carla Moore and her team behind the scenes have done a lovely job with this.  The maintenance of professional pace throughout the production was also highly commendable and very pleasing to witness.

The Lifespan of a Fact will play at the Chester Street Theatre, Epping until the 23^rd of November.  With ticket prices ranging from only $27 to $35, this is great value for money and extremely entertaining.  Book now to secure your seats, sit back and enjoy some marvellous acting.

10 facts checked out of 10.

Fiona Kelly