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"Failure: A Love Story" creatively explores love and loss

Kenan Theatre Company's "Failure: A Love Story"

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The dynamic staging and seamless flow of Kenan Theatre Company’s “Failure: A Love Story,” was matched only by the overwhelming zeal of its cast in last Friday’s performance.

Performed in Kenan Theatre, the play combines the spirit of early 20th century living with a darkly humorous critique on the meaning of love and loss.

The story opens with a full cast narration covering the life and times of the “Fail” family and their humble, albeit somewhat odd lives. While bringing the audience up to speed on the family in 1928, the narrators inform everyone that the three sisters, Nelly, Jenny June and Gertrude Fail will all die - in that order - within the year.

What’s immediately apparent is the overwhelming synergy among the cast members. Director Talya Klein’s organization and creative blocking made what could have easily seemed rushed and confusing into an engaging affair.

As the fast paced narrative jumps from character to character the actors exhibited a stunning symmetry in their direction. They acted like a machine, weaving together a story in one cohesive motion that at no point detracted from the humor or liveliness of the dialogue.

Not only was the ensemble interaction notable, but the cast’s raw talent brought a world of color to each scene. There was no clear crowd favorite, as each character delighted, entertained and provoked the audience into cheers and interested murmurs.

The visual design of the show was eye catching, featuring rows of shelves filled with antiquated gizmos and low, lamp lit mood lighting which created a sense of home. The overall musical design was similarly impressive, tastefully integrating a variety of oldies into transitional scenes and the greater narrative.

Over the course of the production, the scenes increasingly move in and out of narratives, personal accounts and surrealist visions. Many of the actors oscillate between their primary characters and personified concepts such as ‘time.’

Though these almost dream-like transitions provide immense insight and relevance to the shows greater themes, they could feel out of place. The longer the show went on, the less clear the line between what was abstract and what was real became.

While artistically additive, this confusion was somewhat distracting and made the impact of later scenes take longer to land.

However, even with a small degree of ambiguity “Failure: A Love Story” still presented an immensely powerful, yet intimate exploration of human interaction in a mere 90 minutes. As the lights faded on a gorgeously orchestrated ending, the audience was instantly on their feet in a full standing ovation.

arts@dailytarheel.com

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