Show Summary

Carol Lynn Pearson's Facing East

Ruth and Alex McCormick are an upstanding Mormon couple reeling from the suicide of their gay son. In Facing East, they are stuck between the comfort of their faith and the unfamiliarity of their new reality when they meet their son’s partner, Marcus, for the first time.  Although centered on Mormon characters, the play is for anyone of any faith, anyone with a family, anyone who has felt the pain of loss, anyone with hope for change.  Marybeth Bielawski-DeLeo will direct.  The cast of three features Dana Hooley, John Polak and Scott Striegel.

Creative Team

Dana Hooley	John Polak	Scott Striegel

Press Photos

Pictured (l-r): Scott Striege and John Polak. Photo: Ken Jacques Photography	Pictured (l-r): Scott Striegel, John Polak and Dana Hooley. Photo: Ken Jacques Photography
Pictured (l-r): Dana Hooley, John Polak. Photo: Ken Jacques Photography	Pictured (l-r): Scott Striegel, Dana Hooley and John Polak. Photo: Ken Jacques Photography
Pictured (l-r): Scott Striegel. Photo: Ken Jacques Photography	Pictured (l-r): Scott Striege and John Polak. Photo: Ken Jacques Photography
Pictured (l-r): Dana Hooley, John Polak and Scott Striegel. Photo: Barron Henzel

Press Release

Playwright Carol Lynn Pearson will do talkback March 22 after “Facing East” performance at Diversionary

 

Noted LDS (Latter Day Saints) author Carol Lynn Pearson will visit Diversionary Theatre during opening weekend of her play Facing East. Carol Lynn will do a talkback after the Sunday, March 22 matinee (2pm performance).

Ruth and Alex McCormick are an upstanding Mormon couple reeling from the suicide of their gay son. In Facing East, they are stuck between the comfort of their faith and the unfamiliarity of their new reality when they meet their son’s partner, Marcus, for the first time. Although centered on Mormon characters, the play is for anyone of any faith, anyone with a family, anyone who has felt the pain of loss, anyone with hope for change. The Salt Lake Tribune wrote of the play, which premiered at Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City in November 2006, “A tightly-wound domestic tragedy…freshly relevant...dares to ask important questions about faith, death and survival.” In 2007, Variety said of Plan-B’s tour (Off-Off Broadway and San Francisco), “A vivid rumination on grief.” Marybeth Bielawski-DeLeo directs the play. The cast of three features Dana Hooley, John Polak and Scott Striegel.

Carol Lynn Pearson has been a professional writer, speaker, and performer for many years. In addition to her volumes of poetry, she is well known for such books as her autobiography, Goodbye, I Love You, which tells the story of her marriage to a homosexual man, their divorce and ongoing friendship, and her caring for him as he died of AIDS; Consider the Butterfly, which tells forty-four of her personal stories of meaningful coincidence and was a finalist in the inspiration/spiritual category of the 2002 Independent Publishers Book Awards; and a series of inspirational books that began with The Lesson. Her five Christmas books include The Christmas Moment, published in 2005 by Cedar Fort, and the classic, A Stranger for Christmas. Carol Lynn has been a guest on such programs as The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning, America and has been featured in People magazine. She has a master of arts in theater, is the mother of four grown children, and lives in Walnut Creek, California. Her website is www.clpearson.com.

Copies of the book Goodbye, I Love You, will be on sale at Diversionary throughout the run of Facing East.

 

Diversionary presents Carol Lynn Pearson’s “Facing East”
           
Diversionary Theatre’s fifth production of the 2008-2009 season is the parable Facing East by noted LDS (Latter Day Saints) author Carol Lynn Pearson.  A Mormon couple confronts the limits of their spiritual teachings upon the suicide of their gay son.  The Salt Lake Tribune wrote of the play, which premiered at Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City in November 2006, “A tightly-wound domestic tragedy…freshly relevant...dares to ask important questions about faith, death and survival.”  In 2007, Variety said of Plan-B’s tour (Off-Off Broadway and San Francisco), “A vivid rumination on grief.”

Ruth and Alex McCormick are an upstanding Mormon couple reeling from the suicide of their gay son. In Facing East, they are stuck between the comfort of their faith and the unfamiliarity of their new reality when they meet their son’s partner, Marcus, for the first time.  Although centered on Mormon characters, the play is for anyone of any faith, anyone with a family, anyone who has felt the pain of loss, anyone with hope for change.  Marybeth Bielawski-DeLeo will direct.  The cast of three features Dana Hooley, John Polak and Scott Striegel.

The premiere of the play in Salt Lake City in 2006 coincided with the 20th anniversary of Carol Lynn Pearson’s seminal book Goodbye, I Love You, the story of her life with her gay husband Gerald, their 12-year Mormon temple marriage, four children, divorce, ongoing friendship, and his death from AIDS in her home, where she cared for him.  In 2007 the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: “Pearson has never remarried.  ‘That has been a disappointment in my life,’ she said.  There's also been grief along with joy, bafflement and a strange sense of wonder in the lives of her children.  As for her oldest, Pearson drew a deep breath before relating this chapter.  Like her mother, Emily married a gay man and subsequently divorced him.  That man is Steven Fales, creator of the widely traveled solo show Confessions of a Mormon Boy.  (Fales performed the show at Diversionary during the summer of 2005.)  Emily, hewing to her mother's past, is now writing a book about her life with a gay Mormon husband.”

Bielawski-DeLeo believes some of the questions raised by the play are ‘How does an individual reconcile his or her devotion to a religion that condemns the essence of who that individual is?  How do those who love that individual help or hinder that process of reconciliation?  What stands in the way of unconditional love?’  She recently directed It’s A Wonderful Life at Cygnet Theatre and Terra Nova for Inukshuk Production Co., where she is the founder and Producing Artistic Director.  She holds her MA in Theatre Arts with distinction from SDSU’s School of Theatre, Television, and Film.   

Started in 1986, the mission of Diversionary Theatre is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily. 

Facing East  will preview on March 19 and 20, and open on Saturday, March 21 and run through Sunday, April 5.  Performance times are: Wednesday & Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm and Sunday at 2:00 & 7:00pm.  Single tickets, priced $29-$33 with discounts for seniors, students and military, are now on sale.  For information, call the Diversionary box office at 619.220.0097 or log on to www.diversionary.org.
-  END  -

Financial support for Diversionary Theatre is provided in part by the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture.

---

CALENDAR LISTING: Facing East

CONTACTS:
Dan Kirsch, Executive & Artistic Director, dkirsch@diversionary.org
Travis Guss, Patron Services Manager, tguss@diversionary.org
619.220.6830

Diversionary Theatre’s fifth production of the 2008-2009 season is the parable Facing East by noted LDS (Latter Day Saints) author Carol Lynn Pearson.  A Mormon couple confronts the limits of their spiritual teachings upon the suicide of their gay son.  The Salt Lake Tribune wrote of the play, which premiered at Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City in November 2006, “A tightly-wound domestic tragedy…freshly relevant...dares to ask important questions about faith, death and survival.”  In 2007, Variety said of Plan-B’s tour (Off-Off Broadway and San Francisco), “A vivid rumination on grief.”

Ruth and Alex McCormick are an upstanding Mormon couple reeling from the suicide of their gay son. In Facing East, they are stuck between the comfort of their faith and the unfamiliarity of their new reality when they meet their son’s partner, Marcus, for the first time.  Although centered on Mormon characters, the play is for anyone of any faith, anyone with a family, anyone who has felt the pain of loss, anyone with hope for change.  Marybeth Bielawski-DeLeo will direct.  The cast of three features Dana Hooley, John Polak and Scott Striegel.

WHAT:

Facing East
By Carol Lynn Pearson
Directed by Marybeth Bielawski-DeLeo
Featuring Dana Hooley, John Polak and Scott Striegel

WHEN:

March 19-April 5, 2009
Previews: Thursday & Friday, March 19 & 20
Opening night Saturday, March 21, 2009
Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30pm; Friday and Saturday at 8:00pm; Sunday at 2:00 & 7:00pm
(please note Wednesday performances on March 25 and April 1 – performances are “Pay What You Can” at the door)

WHERE:

Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Boulevard, San Diego, CA 92116           

TICKETS:

Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday - $29; Friday - $31; Saturday - $33
Student/senior 60+/active military: $4 off
Student rush: $10 (with ID/starting one hour prior to curtain)
Box Office: 619-220-0097 and online at www.diversionary.org
Group rates: $4 off groups of 10-29; $8 off groups of 30 or more

Reviews

San Diego Reader
Posted online March 23, 2009
By Jeff Smith

Facing East

The title refers to graves situated to face the rising sun. Come the End of Days, the chosen will fly to heaven. In Carol Lynn Pearson's drama, Andrew McCormick faces east before his time, and his religion has banned him from a blessed afterlife. He was a gay Mormon, excommunicated from the church. So conflicted between body and soul, Andrew committed suicide at age 24. His parents, Ruth and Alex, stand before an open grave and conduct a second funeral service: this time with the truth. Alex, a radio celebrity famous for his one-minute spots about fatherly advice, faces the hypocrisy of never heeding his words. Ruth lives for eternity. Admitting her son is gay threatens her ultimate status. Andrew's death shatters three lives: his parents' and his lover Marcus's. The play and the tightly crafted Diversionary production move not toward a grand rebuilding, but more a potential, albeit incomplete, repatching of traumatized shards (Amy Gilbert Reams's autumnal set mirrors the task at hand: it's a reconstructed tree, the trunk axed blocks of wood nailed together). To be remembered for her direction of Terra Nova last year at Compass Theatre, Marybeth Bielawski-DeLeo serves the play, and some quirky rhythms, well. John Polak's Alex loves to hear himself talk but has the courage to speak words he never thought he would. Scott Striegel plays Marcus like a building that's been neutron bombed. And Dana Hooley does a remarkable job as adamant Ruth, providing depths to a character who, in lesser hands, would just become a monster. Worth a try.

---

Pat Launer: Spotlight on Theater
By Pat Launer, SDNN
Thursday, March 26, 2009

Faith vs. Family
THE SHOW: “Facing East,” a 2006 drama by Carol Lynn Pearson at Diversionary Theatre.

In the tradition of the Mormon Church, every grave must face east, to be ready for the sunrise on Resurrection Morning. That’s one of many things we learn in “Facing East,” the family tragedy by Mormon writer Carol Lynn Pearson.

In her bracing and affecting story, a young man commits suicide in the garden of the Salt Lake Mormon Temple. Andrew was a devoted disciple, carrying on generations of family tradition. But he was excommunicated because he was gay. He reluctantly left the fold, and found love with a man his parents refused to meet. Now the three come together over his grave.

The play explores the schizophrenic duality of a warm-hearted, loving religion that preaches harmony and family but harshly rejects difference and divergence from the sharply defined ‘norm.’ The mother says she’ll lose her reason for living if she has to doubt the rightness of her church and her beliefs. The father is torn to shreds, questioning everything he has said and done in his life. The grieving boyfriend seems to be the only one who really knew Andrew, a bright and gifted young man, a Juilliard graduate and accomplished cellist.

Pearson has written extensively on gay and Mormon themes, a good deal of it from personal experience. A fourth generation member of the Church of Latter Day Saints, she was married to a Mormon man who turned out to be gay. They had four children, lived separately for awhile, and then divorced in 1978. After he was diagnosed with AIDS, she took care of him in the months before he died in 1984. Two years later, she published a book about the experience, “Goodbye, I Love You.” History repeated itself in the next generation. Pearson’s oldest daughter married a gay Mormon, Steven Fales, and after they divorced, he wrote and performed a well-traveled solo theater piece, “Confessions of a Mormon Boy,” which played to excellent response at Diversionary Theatre in 2005. Pearson’s more recent book is “No More Goodbyes: Circling The Wagons Around Our Gay Loved Ones” (2007). She has noted that the suicide rates in Mormon-dominated Utah are the highest in the country for males age 15-24.

Her well-intentioned one-act drama, which premiered to acclaim in Salt Lake City, is taut, gripping and compelling though some of the structural elements (the flashbacks, the exposition) feel a little strained. On opening night, the Diversionary Theatre production nearly nailed it. But there was a stiffness between the characters, which should smooth out over the course of the run. Marybeth Bielawski-DeLeo’s direction is sharp and focused. As the truth-seeking, guilt-ridden father, John Polak is forceful, if heartbreaking, in his anguish, despair and willingness to change. Scott Striegel is persuasive as Andy’s boyfriend, and he gets to show some dramatic range when he replays their happier times together. Dana Hooley has the trickiest role; we learn the least of Ruth’s backstory, and what brought her to the hidebound conviction that her ‘sinning’ son is probably better off where he is, or else her “whole life is a waste.” She’s almost there, but I wasn’t quite convinced by her feelings for her husband or her son.

The set design (Amy Gilbert Reams) is wonderful: a huge, overhanging tree that spreads shadows on the black walls (lighting by Jason Bieber); leaf-strewn grass, a few memorial stones and a shovel-pierced pile of dirt, waiting to fill the fresh grave. The affecting sound design (Bonnie Breckenridge) features birds, crickets and frogs, interspersed with the mournful moan of Bach’s cello solos.

On a small scale, “Facing East” confronts a huge crisis. These days, both East and West need to be facing the facts of religious intolerance.

THE BOTTOM LINE: BEST BET