Facing East
Carol Lynn Pearson is a compassionate person who wears many
hats. As the poet/playwright/novelist/activist who wrote "Facing
East," Pearson traveled to Long Beach last Friday when International
City Theatre opened its new production of her controversial play.
Both before the performance at ICT's welcoming reception, and
after the thunderous applause of its heart-wrenching ending,
Pearson graciously answered all questions from the audience no
matter how pointed or personal.
In essence, "Facing East" relates the tragic story of Ruth and
Alex McCormick who are reeling from the suicide of their beloved son
Andrew, who was excommunicated when it was discovered he was
homosexual.
The McCormicks are upstanding members in the Mormon community who
have rigorously followed Church of Latter Day Saints doctrines for
generations. As such, Ruth and Alex are so devastated, so distraught
by Andrew's death, they alternately blame themselves, blame each other,
and blame their son's partner, Marcus, whom they hold responsible for
luring their son into breaking "God's holy law."
Their pain is so deep, they even reveal their own inner demons--
secrets they have kept hidden from each other--to help understand the
horror of what has happened.
No one could better feel the depth of this tragedy or better
explain it to an audience than the playwright herself. As a Fourth
Generation Mormon, she was married to a repressed homosexual who was
the father of their four children. When he contracted AIDS after their
painful divorce, Pearson took him back into her home and nursed him
until he died.
Since that traumatic experience, she has worked tirelessly
and relentlessly for compassionate change in our country's social and
religious attitudes. In her own words, "Nothing I know of has the
magic to invite one person into the heart of another like the magic
of theater. Change is most definitely on the way."
"Facing East" isn't a perfectly structured play; but under the
sensitive and insightful direction of Shashin Desai, the three-member
cast delivers the heart-rending truth at the core of Pearson's drama.
To put it succinctly: This ICT production is an important theatrical
event that everyone should experience.
It all unfolds in a Salt Lake City Cemetery, designed in elegant
simplicity by Stephen Gifford with light design by Jared A. Sayeg.
ICT's trust stage has been transformed into a symbolic field of white
salt with an open grave-site that faces East. As audiences learn from
the play's opening lines: All Mormon graves and tombstones face East,
the direction from which Jesus will come at his resurrection.
Although Andrew's eulogies are over, grief-stricken Ruth and
Alex still linger alone by their son's plot unable to say goodbye.
Terry Davis and Christian Lebano turn in outstanding portrayals of
his anguished parents, each one destroyed by Andrew's death but
reacting to it with different attitudes and from different positions.
As a devoted Mormon mother, Ruth gave up everything because she
truly believes her mission on earth is to create a celestial family
that will be united in the after-life for eternity. Now that her
only son has been identified with homosexuality, excommunication and
suicide, the goal she devoted her life to is lost.
Conversely, because of his unrelenting sorrow, Alex is prompted
to ask himself questions. Looking back through Andrew's life,
he sees things through different lenses. "No one in that church really
knew him," he says at the start of the play. "He was a good kid, a
sweet kid, a talented kid. We need a new funeral, one that tells the truth
out here in the open air, not one that tells lies in a brick chapel."
And with that, the search for answers to his son's guilt, shame, and
suffering begins.
"Why didn't I tell him I loved him?" "He was a son any father would be
proud of." "Why was I too busy to show him so?" "Why did my career and
reputation come first? Why didn't I trust him and forgive him?"
Flashbacks, accusations, counter-attacks and rationales escalate
when Marcus enters the scene. Daniel Kash is totally convincing as
the devoted love of Andrew's life. A handsome young man who lived
with Andrew for a year, he has come late to the cemetery thinking
everyone would be gone so he could grieve the loss of his partner alone.
In spite of unspeakable pain from three diverse points of view,
Pearson leaves us with a bright shining glimmer of hope. Ruth may
hold on to generations of beliefs that are un-reconcilable, but Alex and
Marcus reach out to each other. They even make a date to have dinner--and
maybe, just maybe, recognize the grief and loss they both share. Slowly
but surely, change is in the air over the next horizon.
"Facing East" continues Thursday-Sunday at ICT, 300 East Ocean
Blvd, in downtown Long Beach through July 5. For ticket information,
call (562) 436-4610 or visit www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.