Sunnyside Playwright Part of
Broadway’s ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I NOVEMBER 2018 29
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Kareken
Theatre
BY ALEJANDRA O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
Sunnyside resident Jeremy Kareken is part of the
trio that adapted the novel “The Lifespan of a Fact”
for the stage which is now on Broadway.
The play, a New York Times Critic’s Pick, features
an all star cast of Daniel Radcliffe, Bobby
Cannavale and Cherry Jones and tells the story
of a battle between the truth and ego. Jim Fingal,
a young intern for the magazine Believer, works
to fact-check writer John D’Agata’s story about a
teen suicide in a Las Vegas resort. D’Agata does
not consider himself to be a journalist but rather
a lyric essayist who views accuracy as something
that takes a back seat to poetry.
Needless to say, Fingal has his work cut out for him.
“We wanted it be accessible but still controversial
and yet aspirational,” said Kareken, who wrote the
play with colleagues David Murrell and Gordon Farrell.
Kareken and Murrell read the book a few weeks after
its release in 2012.
Murrell sent Kareken an article reviewing in the
book that was so negative the two found it comical.
According to Kareken, it was apparent that the
author of the review was offended by the idea that
a fellow journalist could be as careless about fact
as D’Agata.
The pair thought it would be interesting to see how
audiences would deal with the questions the novel
posed and see if they would be just as disturbed.
“Audiences do have a tendency to pick sides,” said
Kareken, who added that the play was more about
starting a conversation about storytelling and truth and
does not seek to provide answers. “We have a great
deal of sympathy for both points of view.”
Kareken grew up in upstate Rochester and moved
to Sunnyside in 2002. For 17 years, he worked as a
researcher for “Inside the Actors Studio,” the television
show where host James Lipton interviews high-profile
actors. Kareken has also worked for Gary Johnson on
the former New Mexico governor’s last two presidential
campaigns as a writer and policy analyst.
So as a former fact-checker, Kareken was excited
to further develop the story of this fact-checker’s tale
which he says a bit more dramatized for the stage.
“When you go to a sports match even if you don’t
want one of the teams to win you still want a good
game,” Kareken said.
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