While I was in Salt Lake City a few weeks ago, I had a chance to see a unique, startling play from Carol Lynn Pearson entitled "Facing East," a story about a middle-age Mormon couple coming to terms with the suicide of their gay son.
The play, which I saw at the Plan B Theatre in Utah, is wrapping up an off-Broadway run on June 17, but for those of you who might be in California, "Facing East" will premiere at the Theatre Rhinoceros in San Francisco with a run from Aug. 10-26, phone (415) 861-5079.
According to Wikipedia, the Theatre Rhinoceros was founded in 1977 and it is a theatre which produces plays with gay and lesbian themes.
The play takes a dramatic turn when the couple is confronted with a surprise encounter from their son's lover Marcus, played by Jay Perry.
I was really struck with the performances from Charles Lynn Frost who plays the father character Alex with dynamic intensity. Frost was named Best Actor by "Salt Lake City Weekly" in 2001 for his performance in "The Laramie Project."
Jayne Luke, who appeared in the independent film "Brigham City," was equally compelling as the cold mother character Ruth, who has an even harder time coming to grips with the reality in front of her than her husband.
"Facing East" was directed by Jerry Rapier.
I was hoping to meet Jerry after the performance I saw in SLC in late April, but alas I was absolutely starving when the play ended.....I ended driving all over town to eat at a Chinese restaurant called The Golden Phoenix. I sure hope I didn't order moo goo gaipan....
Hopefully, this blog entry can make up for that social faux pas.
Though I am not gay or Mormon myself, I really connected with the cultural tension in the play. As someone who is half-Turkish and from Roanoke, Va., I fully understand how such confrontations can occur in proverbial awkward moments even amongst family and friends.
One such moment happened to me when I attended a Muslim funeral for a family member (long story) in Salem, Va., in January of 2000 and a teenage boy with a NASCAR t-shirt peaked in as the imam was reciting passages from the Koran to see what the heck was going on. I almost burst into laughter even though it was the somberest of occasions. I suppose, looking back at the moment, I could have just as easily have cried. We would later pass a fundamentalist Southern Baptist sign as we carried the family member's coffin down Peters Creek Road in Roanoke.
There are certainly such awkward moments in "Facing East." One of the most poignant comes when Marcus reveals that he met their son as he 'knocked on his door.'
In other theatre news: Mill Mountain Theatre in Roanoke is currently performing "Big River," a musical take on Huck Finn's journey. My friend Chris Tilley from the Greensboro (NC) Playwrighters Forum is the musicl director of the show. Another Virginia theatre, Live Arts in Charlottesville is performing the Harold Pinter play "Old Times." And, lastly, here in this area, Triad Stage of Greensboro is producing a play called _appropriately enough_ "Tobbaco Road."
If anyone knows of any other plays between here and Juneau, Alaska, please let me know. I'll be happy to post a future entry about them.
Of course, by the time many of you read this, the Tony Awards will have been given out. I gather from what I read in "The New York Times" that the best dramatic actor category is being touted as the closest competition since Jason Robards Jr. acted on Broadway some 30-35 years ago.
Useful links:
http://www.theplanbtheatrecompany.org
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