Facts and truth are at odds in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’
Broadway Youth Cebu’s 2024 offering in the local theater scene is the Philippine premiere of “The Lifespan of a Fact”, a topical comedy on the battle between facts and truth, which will be staged February 17 and 18 at the Siddhartha Theater at the Guang Ming College, Cebu City.
“We are facing this era of misinformation and disinformation, so it’s very fitting that we talk about it. This talks about how far we can blur the lines between the facts and the truth,” director Everild Catugal said after a preview of the play last January 18.
“We have been talking about misinformation and disinformation, but not in a setting where each side is being heard and where we can acknowledge and analyze.”
The 2018 Broadway production, which had Daniel Radcliffe, Bobby Cannavale, and Cherry Jones in the cast, was an adaptation of a 2012 book of the same name by John D’Agata and Jim Fingal.
In the Cebu version that is being co-directed by Allan Nazareno, actors Arnel Pahang and Jay Chan II play the roles originated by Cannavale (D’Agata) and Radcliffe (Fingal), while Clariza Mae Sevilla is editor-in-chief Emily Penrose (portrayed by Jones in Broadway) who is a fictional character created for the story.
The Broadway production was staged at a time when the phrase “alternative facts” was inserted into the American public consciousness by the administration of former US President Donald Trump. But its real-life story, set at a time when Trump was still hosting the hit reality show “The Apprentice”, wasn’t meant to be a jab at him.
- Origins of a fact -
In 2005, American essayist John D’Agata submitted a piece titled “What Happens There” to The Believer magazine which is about the suicide culture in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was prompted to write about it following the death of a 16-year-old who jumped off a hotel building.
Originally commissioned by Harper’s Magazine in 2003, the article was rejected because the editorial team disagreed with D’Agatha’s literary approach. When then-recent Harvard graduate Jim Fingal was assigned by The Believer to fact-check the article, he found that there were numerous inaccuracies, even in the smallest details, such as the name of bars.
“I am not interested in accuracy, I’m interested in the truth,” the fictionalized version of D’Agata justified his creative liberties, noting that he is a literary essayist and not a journalist.
Five years after its original submission and having been extensively fact-checked, the piece was finally published in The Believer.
The contested working relationship between D’Agata and Fingal resulted in the aforementioned book two years later which contains D’Agata’s original text and Fingal’s notes, accompanied by their opinions on the importance of facts and creative license in non-fiction writing.
“Even though this happened a long time ago, journalism and media still face its own set of challenges,” said Sevilla, citing the rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) as the latest.
Sevilla, whose character has a strong personality and strict work ethic, says that having studied literature in college and working in media for a year made her relate to all three characters.
“I understood Emily’s side of why she wanted to rush this essay into publication. But I also understood John because I was a literature student and why we have to sometimes paraphrase to fit a theme we’re going for because we believe it will hit harder and the audience will be able to relate to it better, instead of going to straight facts,” she said.
“I also understand Jim’s point of view that we have to stick to the facts. We cannot embellish or sensationalize certain things and we do see in the play that Jim goes through the extreme.”
For Pahang, a content creator, doing a comedy is a detour from his usual dramatic roles, but that’s not the most difficult thing he had to do with his character who remains firm about his piece despite Fingal raising several red flags.
“What was difficult for me to relate to was, John is very sardonic. I am not so it’s difficult to get into that character,” he said.
- Takeaways -
The Cebu team of “Lifespan of a Fact” hopes that it will open discussions about what happens in the story, and connect it to the state of the media today, especially in the Philippines.
“The more you watch it, the more questions you have. I hope that the audience will take advantage to ask these questions to their friends and family members,” Catugal said.
Sevilla hopes that young journalists will understand the perspective of editors and the difficulties they experience to get a story out that fits editorial standards.
“It’s not easy being an editor because it’s like being the middleman between the writer and the editor-in-chief. You have to protect your writers, even if it means scolding them and enumerating what they did wrong,” she said.
“Emily is the editor-in-chief and she has the responsibility to her magazine’s audience, publishers and advertisers. We all know that media has become a business and people pay for sponsored ads and content. You are not just writing or editing for the sake of believing your work, you are also doing this to appease your sponsors, the ones who keep your company growing. I hope they understand that it’s not an easy task.”
Each show is accompanied by a post-discussion with the audience that aims to further dissect the meanings of fact and truth. Marlinda Angbetic-Tan and Chappy Piramide are the guest moderators of the 3 pm and 7 pm shows on February 17, while BroadwayWorld.com’s Oliver Oliveros will lead the talk after the 3 pm show on February 18.
“It’s a great blend of comedy and serious topics that we have to discuss today because if we don’t talk about it now, when will we talk about it? We know some media outlets often twist headlines and truths to gain more readers,” Sevilla added.
“But readers deserve to know the facts and truth that is laid out to them and let them be the ones to interpret these – which I believe the play is doing a good job at.”
Tickets to “The Lifespan of a Fact” can be purchased by messaging Broadway Youth Cebu’s Facebook page at https:// www.facebook.com/broadwayyouthcebu.