The Lifespan of a Fact (NYC)
Closed 1h 35m
The Lifespan of a Fact (NYC)
85

The Lifespan of a Fact (NYC) NYC Reviews and Tickets

85%
(516 Ratings)
Positive
94%
Mixed
5%
Negative
1%
Members say
Great acting, Funny, Clever, Absorbing, Thought-provoking

About the Show

Based on the true story of the conflict between a famous essayist and his fact checker, this world premiere drama comes to Broadway in a production starring Daniel Radcliffe, Cherry Jones, and Bobby Cannavale.

Read more Show less

Show-Score Member Reviews (516)

Sort by:
  • Default
  • Standing in our community
  • Highest first
  • Lowest first
  • Newest first
  • Oldest first
  • Only positive
  • Only negative
  • Only mixed
104 Reviews | 11 Followers
100
Absorbing, Funny, Great acting, Great staging, Great writing

See it if You like humor, intelligence, great writing, staging and acting by 3 perfectly cast actors.

Don't see it if You dont like fast paced dialogue or only like musicals.

181 Reviews | 25 Followers
100
Great writing, Great acting, Thought-provoking, Intelligent, Hilarious

See it if you enjoy a comedy that makes you think about a serious subject performed by 3 actors who are perfectly cast

Don't see it if you only like musicals or classical drama about honor and revenge Read more

96 Reviews | 29 Followers
98
Intelligent, Great acting, Funny, Entertaining, Clever

See it if The acting and story were amazing. A star-studded cast all great at their roles. Plot was clever and relevant.

Don't see it if Just see it...

570 Reviews | 87 Followers
98
Relevant, Thought-provoking, Must see, Intelligent, Funny

See it if like GREAT acting.All 3 actors are at the top of their games.Story is about the value of accuracy in media.Couldn't be more relevant.

Don't see it if you want a musical comedy love story.This is funny, but it's also very important.It's a serious topic that is handled with skill and humor.

217 Reviews | 79 Followers
98
Absorbing, Great acting, Funny, Thought-provoking

See it if you're looking for a small, funny, thought-provoking piece presented by 3 truly terrific actors.

Don't see it if you need a play to be more profound than thought-provoking. Read more

KG
124 Reviews | 10 Followers
97
Absorbing, Clever, Delightful, Entertaining, Funny

See it if want to see superb acting, directing, and laugh a lot.

Don't see it if you don't enjoy the work of Cherry Jones and Daniel Ratcliff.

166 Reviews | 39 Followers
95
Absorbing, Great acting, Great writing, Intelligent, Relevant

See it if you like a intelligently written, witty, thoughtful and absorbing play with a trio of brilliant actors. A must see this season.

Don't see it if there is no reason not to see this play. Read more

79 Reviews | 17 Followers
95
Absorbing, Great acting, Great writing, Thought-provoking, Great staging

See it if you enjoy good acting, you are interested in the relationship between facts and truth.

Don't see it if you prefer simple entertainment without serious topics. Read more

Critic Reviews (48)

The New York Times
October 18th, 2018

“There used to be a genre of Broadway comedy meant to be topical but not emotional...But ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’ clearly wants to be more than that, even if its raw material isn’t strong enough for drama...'Terrifically engaging but not as smart as it thinks.' That this doesn’t much matter as the play pingpongs along is the result of a terrific comic staging by Leigh Silverman. With its cast, its dead-on timing...it would probably nail its laughs even without the dialogue."
Read more

Time Out New York
October 18th, 2018

“A quick and entertaining play that makes a good case for the value of truth...If Fingal gets the upper hand...it’s partly thanks to Radcliffe’s appeal as an actor. His Fingal may be a persnickity fussbudget with a dubious sense of which battles to pick, but his bite is the bite of an underdog...Cannavale’s D’Agata, by contrast, is arrogant and dismissive, and his resistance to Fingal’s critiques has an undercurrent of vanity...Like most issue plays, this one ends on a note of ambiguity.”
Read more

New York Magazine / Vulture
October 18th, 2018

"Directed with a light touch and a sense for gradual crescendo...and constructed with elegance and precision on all fronts...’The Lifespan of a Fact’ gives you the satisfying rush of a good mystery or a crossword puzzle. Your brain gets to go the gym for 90 minutes. But it doesn’t get to go home feeling pumped and complacent. Instead, in a way that’s both invigorating and unsettling, the show leaves you hanging. It suspends you...and challenges you to find your own way out.”
Read more

New Yorker
October 22nd, 2018

"Thus are the battle lines drawn: soulful artist vs. nitpicking pedant, in John’s view; amoral fabricator vs. ethical realist, in Jim’s...For such a conceit to work, we have to believe in the merit of the thing that is in dispute. Is one essay really worth all this fuss?...As the play goes on, and its initially sharp comedy dulls into a repetitive deadlock, it becomes clear that John is a martyr not to his notion of poetic truth but to the demands of his paper-thin writerly pride."
Read more

The Wall Street Journal
October 18th, 2018

“For most of its length, this admirably compact play is a rib-bustingly funny farce in which things go from very bad to far worse in nothing flat. Toward the end, though, Messrs. Kareken, Murrell and Farrell skillfully modulate into a darker key...While you may not buy the surprise ending...you’ll like everything else about ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’, including the letter-perfect acting, Silverman’s snappy direction and Mimi Lien’s quick-change set.”
Read more

Deadline
October 18th, 2018

“A new based-on-reality play starring a totally-committed triumvirate...poses some big questions about small truths. Certainly the top-grade quality of the cast has us hoping for answers, or at least a rousing good yarn. There’s a little disappointed on both fronts...How to transfigure this years-long intellectual adventure into a 90-minute stage drama?...That’s a puzzle that playwrights Jeremy Kareken, David Murrell and Gordon Farrell haven’t solved. "
Read more

New York Daily News
October 18th, 2018

“A fun debate play and commercial catnip for the brain, the kind of old-school, celebrity-friendly show you can argue about over late-night pasta without anyone's face landing in the sauce. It won't be a Pulitzer contender nor around forever, but it’s smart and very lively...This is a play about an essay in a magazine, but it's also a show about the sorry state of journalism, and maybe of a nation...It's a self-aware comedy."
Read more

Variety
October 18th, 2018

“Radcliffe proves to be a master of comedy in ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’... If we were living through a different moment in time, the writer’s fabricated but emotionally wrenching 'truth' would easily outweigh the fact-checker’s chilly reality of events. But with the leader of our nation stomping on truth as we know it, and the very essence of reality imperiled by political fact-stretchers, the debate at the heart of this play transcends comedy and demands serious attention."
Read more