A PLAYSCRIPTS TITLE

Failure: A Love Story

Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy  /  3w, 2m, 2 any gender (youth) plus ensemble

Philip Dawkins

By the end of 1928, all three Fail sisters will be dead. A magical, musical fable where, in the end, the power of love is far greater than any individual‘s successes or failures.

Failure: A Love Story

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 2m, 2 any gender (youth) plus ensemble
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Period, Docudrama/History
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult
Failure: A Love Story

Details

Summary

By the end of 1928, all three Fail sisters will be dead – expiring in reverse order, youngest to oldest, from blunt object to the head, disappearance, and finally consumption. Tuneful songs, and a whimsical chorus follow the story of Nelly, Jenny June and Gerty as they live out their lives above the family clock repair shop near the Chicago River, before their time unexpectedly runs out. A magical, musical fable where, in the end, the power of love is far greater than any individual‘s successes or failures.

An AUDIO VERSION of this play is also now available.

History

Failure: A Love Story premiered at Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, Illinois in 2012. Directed by Seth Bockley, the production featured Baize Buzan, Janet Brooks, Matt Fletcher and Emjoy Gavino.

Keywords
Performing Groups

NELLY FAIL – The youngest

JENNY JUNE FAIL – The middlest

GERTRUDE FAIL – The eldest

JOHN N. FAIL – The brother

MORTIMER MORTIMER – The lover

THE CHORUS

Author‘s Note: The Chorus can take any number of shapes. Multiple people, one person, puppets... feel free to reassign some or all of the Chorus‘ lines to other characters. 

Author‘s Note: The Chorus can take any number of shapes. Multiple people, one person, puppets... feel free to reassign some or all of the Chorus‘ lines to other characters. 

  • Time Period 1920s
  • Setting

    Various locations. 1928.

  • Duration 90 minutes

Media

“Fantastically macabre.” – The Huffington Post

“A wholly wonderful show that is profound, yet at the very same time whimsical beyond all imagining -- a show in which time is of the essence, and in which love and death (especially death that comes suddenly and prematurely) conjoin in the strangest yet most beautiful of waltzes.” – The Chicago Sun Times

“A Chicago tale full of emotional riches... In particular and most movingly, the play is probing the whole idea of how all of our loves and our happiness are, alas, bound by the confines of time.” – The Chicago Tribune

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £55 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Scripts

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Authors

Philip Dawkins

Philip Dawkins
Philip Dawkins is a Chicago playwright and educator. His plays include FAILURE: A LOVE STORY (Victory Gardens Theater), LE SWITCH (About Face Theatre, the Jungle), THE HOMOSEXUALS (About Face Theatre), THE BURN (Steppenwolf for Young Audiences), DR.SEUSS’S THE SNEETCHES, THE ...
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