Originally meant as a scripted finalé to his trilogy on the underbelly of the self-help movement, Seth Lepore used a 12-hour live-streamed web-a-thonto unravel the genesis of this new interactive, and highly improvised, solo show. Lepore ups the ante on solo theater by having conversations directly with the swindlers and spooks he’s creating on the spot. The imagination of the audience influences the alchemy of the torques and turns each night, as absurdity and sincerity high five.
By remaining a constant pillar of the show as himself, Lepore gets more personal with his subjects. Using transparency as his model he embraces the flaws and strengths of a performer grappling with the folly of life hackers touting expertise. Through this lens, Lepore presents a vulnerability that remains both theatrical and entertaining.
Lepore confirms how our longing for success and fear of failure are bound by the same impulse; one, which craves elite social status as much as reality show train-wrecks. This is a show meant to pry open the "why" of our dogmatic convictions, to understand western culture’s drive to always take first place. The title is meant to be both ironic and victorious, an example of how we use language to convey our deepest desires and the hard truth about our greatest doubts and limitations.
By challenging the skewed myths that one must fail again and again in order to succeed… that in America we all have the same capacity to reach our goals if we work hard enough… that only the precious few can be titans in their industry… Lepore challenges his audience to see if success and failure are merely outdated concepts or very real measurements of what it means to be human.
Friday February 28, & Saturday and Sunday March 1 and 2 at 7:00 pm (doors 6:00) $14/ $12 student, seniors, with Fringe button or MPR member card