When lifestyles and religion clash
By Ted Hadley - NEWS CONTRIBUTING REVIEWER
Updated: 04/16/08 9:20 AM
=93The best writing,=94 someone once said, =93has no lace on its
sleeves.=94=
Carol Lynn Pearson, the prolific writer of poems, prose and plays,
lives by that old adage, her words always forthright, economical and
honest. A devout Mormon, her autobiography, =93Goodbye, I Love You,=94
chronicled a marriage gone awry, her husband of long-standing coming
out of the closet and leaving with his lover, only to return six years
later dying with AIDS. Pearson was his caretaker until his death.
The book unsparingly told of Gerald Pearson=92s last days and Carol=92s
conflicts with her church, with its unbending tenets concerning
homo***uals and their Mormon member****p, plus her advocacy for women=92s
leader****p within the church. =93I still love the Mormon community,=94
Carol has said, =93and I have a unique op****tunity to build bridges.=94
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Steve Winn has written that Pearson
=93tries to separate church and hate.=94
She continues to do that with her recent play, the 70-minute =93Facing
East,=94 just now in its first days at Buffalo United Artists. Kelli
Bocock-Natale sagely directs Dan Walker, Eileen Dugan and Kevin
Keleher in this touching Utah graveside story of grieving Mormon
parents, Alex and Ruth, trying to come to grips with the suicide death
of their gay son =97 Andy, 24 years old, a promising cellist =97 and the
sudden appearance of Andy=92s partner, Marcus. Alex, Ruth and Marcus
have never met. It promises to be a stormy introduction.
You should know this: Alex is a radio talk show host, on parenting, no
less, his =93One-Minute Dad=94 segments offering pithy advice. Wife Ruth
is fanatical about her religion. She accepts =93hate the sin, love the
sinner=94 only with an asterisk. She understands and condones Mormon
abandonment of her son and his gay, =93not normal,=94 lifestyle. But she
does not understand her part =97 or her husband=92s =97 in Andy=92s
suicide.=
=93Facing East=94 fills in some spaces and bares some secrets. Marcus is
angry, but here reproach and rebuke seem muted and that is a
disappointment; confrontation never gets up a full head of steam and,
aside from Ruth=92s chilliness and a ray of hope, the play=92s end brings
a too-chummy Alex-Marcus goodbye. Unlikely.
Walker and Dugan are near-perfect. Walker has evolved into an actor of
great strength and depth. His off-stage wife, Dugan, finds traces of
warmth in Ruth and she too can cause heart-tugs. Two excellent,
believable performances. Keleher, as Marcus, seems real only in
spurts. Tough role, unevenly played.
Pearson is extremely quotable. Speaking generally but appropriately
for =93Facing East,=94 she has said that, =93Heroes take journeys,
confront
dragons and discover the treasure of their true selves.=94
Pearson=92s Alex, Ruth and Marcus, their lives upside down, will all do
that =97 with no lace on their sleeves.
Theater Review
=93Facing East=94
Drama presented by Buffalo United Artists through May 3 in Main Street
Cabaret, 672 Main St. For more information, call 886-9239 or visit
www.buffalobua.org.
http://www.truthandgrace.com/mormonnews.htm
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