A 1926 critical flop about reincarnation, The Ladder nevertheless lasted over two years on Broadway thanks to the resources of oil baron Edgar Davis. In Chalk and Saltwater, the Neo-Futurists make Davis's folly the stepping-stone for a meditation on failure and success. Though the Neos attempt to gussy things up by having a "trickster" add capricious elements ("Now do it like a boa constrictor"), snippets from The Ladder prove that its obscurity is richly deserved. But poignant revelations about the play's creators--including leading lady Antoinette Perry, now best known as the namesake for the Tony Awards--combine with personal insights from the ensemble to allow us ample opportunity to question our own notions of what it means to live a fulfilled life. --Kerry Reid