Syracuse University Department Of Drama Presents FAILURE: A LOVE STORY
Performances run November 11-19.
By: Stephi Wild Nov. 10, 2022
The Syracuse University Department of Drama continues the 2022/2023 season with the delicately romantic and funny play "Failure: A Love Story" (Nov. 11 - 19) directed by Thom Miller. Performances will be held in the Syracuse Stage / SU Drama Complex, 820 East Genesee St. Tickets are available through the Syracuse Stage Box Office at www.syracusestage.org/drama or by phone at 315.443.3275.
"If you knew how long you had, would you be able to live your life?," asks playwright Philip Dawkins. This bittersweet consideration is at the center of this whimsically profound, yet elegantly simple play. Miller calls it a "beautifully poetic piece that celebrates life's failures, and is ultimately about how you can find lasting and meaningful love in unpredictable places."
In Chicago, 1928, the three Fail sisters-Nelly, Jenny June and Gerty-meet untimely ends, but their unfortunate fates are tempered by the richness of life and love. Beyond simplicity and elegance, "Failure: A Love Story" features complex easter eggs and puppets that will excite the audience's imagination. Many of the play's deepest moments are suffused with magic, whether in the form of a talking dog or a pair of talking songbirds. And tucked between zany 1920s phrases, like "absolute applesauce!," one will find deep meaning and acceptance.
Dawkins pointedly curated a "vibrant world that is somewhere between our real life and history and this imaginative place where miraculous things can happen," remarks Miller.
While lives pass, clocks wind down and great lengths are swum, love and wonder remain at the play's heart. This piece of story theater-with echoes of Thornton Wilder tinged with the nostalgia of popular songs from a bygone era-reminds us that "just because something ends, doesn't mean it wasn't a great success."
Dawkins is a Chicago-based playwright and educator currently working on an American English translation of Michael Tremblay's "Messe Solennelle Pour Une Pleine Lune D'été" and an audio play for Audible.
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