Fail Risk at Court Square Theater

Spend Rare Disease Day at the theater, either in person or from your bed, and watch a reading of a new play in development, written by chronic and rare disease advocate, Ali Hardy.

Fail Risk is a bold, unflinching new play about love, chronic illness, and survival. Following Peyton and Alex through the first five years of their marriage and the onset of a mysterious illness, it confronts guilt, burnout, and medical trauma while rejecting the “love conquers all” cliché. Centering the messy realities of illness, the play highlights the importance of trauma-informed medical care and the vital role of those who truly “get it” in surviving chronic illness.

While Peyton remains undiagnosed throughout the play to highlight the 5+ years it often takes patients to receive a diagnosis (NIH, NORD), her symptoms are based on two rare diseases: Hemiplegic Migraine and Antiphospholipid Syndrome.

Content Warning (CW): Mature content, strong language, sexual themes, sexual trauma related to illness or disability, depictions of masturbation, depictions of sexual situations when consent cannot be given or revoked due to medical incapacity, fatphobia in medicine, medical trauma, gaslighting, and suicidal ideation.

Featuring: Ali Hardy as Peyton, Fernando DeJesus as Alex, Samantha Marie Nieves as Amanda and Dr. Rosenberg, Ben Freeman as Dr. Wexler, Dr. Keres, Jax, and Doctor, and Carla Burbano reading Stage Directions.

The team includes Director Max Raymond, Stage Manager Emily Smith, Marketing Coordinator Alexa Jones, Live Stream Videography by Dante Leach, Photography by Mattie Cameron Rosen, and Box Office Support by Stephanie Fuentes.

Tickets are pay what you can so that cost is not a barrier to the community, with suggested donations at $5, $17, and $30 price points. The performance will have a live and virtual component in order to be accessible to the chronic and rare disease community. 

This project is made possible, in part, with public funds from the Queens Art Fund, a re-grant program supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the city council and administered by New York Foundation for the Arts.

About Reckless Theatrics

Reckless Theatrics’ mission is to create projects that are inclusive, intersectional, and that use art for social justice. We focus on two main forms of inclusion, the first being by uplifting artists and telling the stories from marginalized communities. The second being by including all art forms within our productions. recklesstheatrics.com