Facing East

VENUE

Atlantic = Stage=20 2

OPENED

May 29, 2007

CLOSES

June 17, 2007

PERFORMANCES

Tue - Sat at 8pm; Sat - Sun at 3pm

RUNNING TIME

1 hour, 20 minutes
No intermission

TICKETS

212-279-4200

ORDER TICKETS

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Click = here for a=20 special discount offer

MORE INFO

Visit the company's = official=20 website

CAST

Charles Lynn Frost, Jayne Luke, Jay Perry

AUTHOR

Carol Lynn Pearson

DIRECTOR

Jerry Rapier

SETS

Randy Rasmussen

LIGHTING

Cory Thorell

COSTUMES

Jerry Rapier

SOUND

Cheryl Ann Cluff

STAGE MANAGER

Jennifer Freed

WIG DESIGN

R. Victor

PRODUCING COMPANY

Plan-B Theatre

=20

Plan B Theatre, a company from Salt Lake City, Utah, presents the New = York=20 premiere of Facing East by Carol Lynn Pearson. The following = description=20 is from the show's press release: "Facing East is the story of = Ruth and=20 Alex McCormick, an upstanding Mormon couple reeling from the suicide of = their=20 gay son. Stuck between their faith and their new reality, they encounter = their=20 son's partner, Marcus, for the first time."

Pictured: Charles Lynn Frost, Jayne Luke, and Jay = Perry in=20 a scene from Facing East (photo =A9 Plan-B Theatre = Company)

nytheatre.com review

Martin Denton =B7 May 26, 2007

Some theatre is good drama. Some drama is important theatre. = Facing=20 East=97Plan-B Theatre Company's production of Carol Lynn Pearson's = new=20 play=97is both.

It takes place at a cemetery in Salt Lake City, Utah. Alex and Ruth = McCormick=20 have just buried their son, Andrew, 24, who killed himself because he = could not=20 find a way to live with himself. Andrew was gay, and despite a loving=20 relationship with a man named Marcus that had gone on for the past year, = he was=20 stuck in a cycle of self-hatred and deeply entrenched guilt. Andrew was = also a=20 Mormon, and the Mormon Church says homosexual behavior is a sin.

The play, though, is much more about Alex and Ruth than it is about = Andrew.=20 Alex is a successful radio talk show host=97his program, "One-Minute = Dad," has a=20 couple million loyal listeners in the American Southwest, and it's about = to make=20 a bid for national syndication. Ruth is, as her Church tells her to be, = a=20 steadfast homemaker, wife, and mother. They have two other children. = They loved=20 Andrew, encouraged his musical gift (he played cello in a symphony = orchestra),=20 but couldn't accept his homosexuality:

No one in that chapel knew him! [Alex says, graveside] No one = should be=20 allowed at a funeral who does not know the person who died. I should = not have=20 been allowed at Andrew's funeral!....I need a new funeral! A service = that=20 speaks the truth.

Facing East depicts this second, important funeral, one in = which=20 Alex and Ruth will, for the first time, confront the reality of who = their son=20 was, and what their beliefs and actions did to him.

The older I get, the more I realize how much I don't know. But so = many=20 people=97Ruth is absolutely one of them=97are unwavering in their faith. = For me, the=20 most important lesson of Facing East is that understanding = people like=20 Ruth, who believe devoutly and unquestioningly what they've been taught = by=20 parents, teachers, and pastors, may be difficult, but it's essential. = Others may=20 be moved by the play's strong stand for gay pride: "God loves me and I = am gay,"=20 proclaims Marcus, Andrew's partner and lover, at one point. Whatever you = take=20 from Facing East will be your truth. What's important is to = hear this=20 play, and take its messages to heart.

Pearson, a Mormon whose husband eventually came out to her as a gay = man (and=20 eventually died from AIDS), knows her characters inside and out, and = depicts=20 them here vividly and compassionately. Jerry Rapier, who directed = Facing=20 East and is also Plan-B's producing director, has realized = Pearson's vision=20 beautifully in a production that's precise yet spare. Charles Lynn Frost = (Alex),=20 Jayne Luke (Ruth), and Jay Perry (Marcus) have lived with these = characters for=20 half a year now (Facing East debuted last November in Salt Lake = City)=20 and they've really gotten inside their skins, creating living, = fully-dimensional=20 individuals on stage. We must be grateful to all of these artists for = sharing=20 this work and bringing it to New York, where we can experience the loves = and=20 sorrows of these pained, imperfect souls.

Print this = review.

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