Set in Chicago during the late 1920s, Failure: A Love Story brings the tale and journey of the three Fail sisters. Set in a rickety two-story house, the performance tells us how each sister fell in love, but also died, within the year of 1928.
The Lake Forest theater department and director Matt Hawkins have been working hard with students to transform Hixon Hall into a multi-dimensional space where we can be taken to a riverbank, a clock workshop, and a bedroom, all within one story.
Having developed this play since the beginning of spring semester, students involved are excited to share the work that they have been able to create, whether it be the transformation of the theater from its usual all-black space into a timeless space, or the eccentric costumes made to suit the era of the 1920s.
Hawkins, the director of Failure: A Love Story, is a renowned director, actor, and fight choreographer. He has worked with Lake Forest College previously, choreographing the fight scenes in All of Orestes. He is back again to direct his own interpretation of the tale of the three Fail sisters. Hawkins’ spin on the already exciting tale brings out the true emotions of both the actors and the soon-to-be audience members. The play will be one to remember for all who experience it.
Throughout the process, even the actors have been able to learn a thing or two from the play. “This playremindsmethatanydaycould be your last,” Victoria Wynter ’17 said. “One way or another, the end is inevitable, so why not go 100 percent in everything you do?”
Alexandra Kulik ‘15 plays one of the sisters and says that “Failure has reminded me how unforeseeable life can be, and how important it is to not let fear or uncertainty or restraint interfere with the need to live every moment to the fullest.” Samantha Kaser ’15 is excited to be finishing off her college career with this play.
She says the story is “extremely relevant for what many seniors are going through or are about to experience a life-changing transition,” she said. “The reality that there is not a right or wrong way to feel or act. This play shows honest portrayals of how change affects us,” Kaser said.
Come join the theater Department in welcoming the premier of Failure: A Love Story this Thursday in Hixon Hall. It will be showing Thursday, March 26 through Saturday, March 28, as well as Thursday, April 2 through Saturday, April 4. Tickets can be booked online at the Lake Forest College website, www.lakeforest.edu. Come prepared to laugh, sigh, and perhaps cry just a little.
