Fail Better

New York City or Bust!

Vashon’s own UMO Ensemble journeys to the New York Fringe Festival in August with FAIL BETTER, their critically acclaimed love letter to Samuel Beckett.

But before they go… they’re inviting you to a benefit performance!

FAIL BETTER: Beckett Moves UMO

One Night. One Show. See It. On Vashon. Saturday, July 25 at 8 PM. (Doors open at 7 PM). At Open Space for Arts & Community on Vashon. TICKETS: $30 (at BrownPaperTickets.com)

Join UMO for a Benefit Performance of their critically acclaimed FAIL BETTER: Beckett Moves UMO. After critical raves and two runs at Seattle’s ACT Theatre, UMO has been invited to take the show to the New York Fringe Festival - a fantastic opportunity! The artists are raring to go, and UMO is facing one significant challenge - shipping the 400 lb. teeter totter to NYC.

How many shows take a 400 lb. teeter totter to NYC? We are betting UMO is the only one EVER.

The performance on July 25 is being held as a fundraiser to offset travel costs - and more importantly, to share this show with Vashon. Join the experience of the show that took Seattle by storm, and stay after to visit with the artists, enjoy refreshments from the Hardware Store, and celebrate one of our oldest island arts groups.

“Ever tried, ever failed. No Matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail Better.” – Samuel Beckett
FAIL BETTER premiered at ACT THEATRE in fall 2014, as part of the Seattle Beckett Festival, and returned for a second run in April 2015 following stunning first-round reviews and sold-out houses.

The work of Samuel Beckett has fascinated the members of UMO for many years. Beckett consistently grapples with the existential questions of life, love, action and inaction. Everyday life and simple tasks, yearnings fulfilled and unfulfilled, are plumbed with great depth and enormous humor. Beckett’s writings speak directly to physical enterprise: walking, balancing, eating, hanging, spinning. UMO takes these impulses, these questions and conundrums, and uses them to launch our love story - into the air itself.

UMO explores the essential themes of Samuel Beckett’s prose using a giant teeter-totter, ropes and pulleys. Five archetypal Beckett characters tackle love, life, death and going-on in typical Beckett fashion: with humor, metaphor, stillness and gross indecency - creating a living, visceral experience.  

For FAIL BETTER, UMO is thrilled to welcome Guest Artists Terry Crane and Jimmy Garver. Terry is a world-renowned rope artist, and Jimmy is an extraordinary sound designer, joining us from Washington, DC.  Jon Schroeder, master set builder, designed our giant teeter-totter. Elizabeth Klob, executive artist of UMO, directs and serves as artistic visionary. With Ms. Klob, UMO Ensemble members Lyam White and Maria Glanz were lead writers. Mr. White, Ms. Glanz and UMO Founders Janet McAlpin and David Godsey, perform along with Mr. Crane.