A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

A Lifetime Burning

Full-Length Play, Dramatic Comedy  /  3w, 1m

Two sisters struggle over the moralities of truth in story-telling when one writes a memoir full of lies. Exploring lived experience, mental illness and artistic license, Cram's play is a firey indictment of reality-obsessed culture.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 1m
  • Duration
    Duration
    90 minutes
  • Suggested Use
    • Scene work
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult

Details

Summary
If you had the power to revise your past, what would you change? Who would you be? Trust fund darling Emma imagines what her life would have been like had she come from a less privileged background. Trouble is, she chronicles her alternate life in a new tell-all "memoir" that was sold for a hefty advance. When Emma is exposed, will her sister, Tess, stand by her? Or will Emma's deceit destroy their already fractured relationship? This dark comedy brings up questions of legacy, loyalty and what it means to belong.
History

A Lifetime Burning premiered at Primary Stages in New York City in July 2009 under the direction of Pam McKinnon.

TESS – late 30s 
EMMA – late 30s 
ALEJANDRO – early 20s, Latino 
LYDIA – 40s, British
  • Time Period Contemporary
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes
  • Additional Features No intermission
  • Duration 90 minutes
  • Cautions
    • Alcohol
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

"Cram indicts our lazy popular culture for valuing a spicy read over messy, mundane reality." – The Hollywood Reporter

"The dialogue crackles with snappy sarcasms." – The New York Times

"A terrific indictment of the reality-obsessed culture in which we live." – TheaterMania

Videos

  • A Lifetime Burning youtube thumbnail

    A Lifetime Burning

  • A Lifetime Burning youtube thumbnail

    A Lifetime Burning

  • A Lifetime Burning youtube thumbnail

    A Lifetime Burning

  • A Lifetime Burning youtube thumbnail

    A Lifetime Burning

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $120 per performance

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Authors

Cusi Cram

Cusi Cram's plays include: Dusty and the Big Bad World (Denver Theater Center), Lucy and the Conquest (Williamstown Theater Festival), All the Bad Things (LAByrinth Theater Company at the Public Theater), Fuente (Barrington Stage, and O'Neill Playwrights Conference), and The ...

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