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Foreward to CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY by Jack Hofsiss
By Steven Fales | January 29, 2010
Foreward by Jack Hofsiss
Anyplace. Two People. One speaks; one listens. Theatre at its most essential. Whether gathering around a campfire to hear those first stories centuries ago or gathering around the electric light of the most modern playhouse, it is theatre.
These thoughts were on my mind one summer afternoon not too long ago when, at the invitation of a producer, a young actor came to meet me to discuss my directing his play. As we went through the civilities of getting to know each other we discussed how best to talk about this play which I had not seen or read. Organically the actor began to speak the play to me. It was a solo piece, so it easily lent itself to this casual performance. It was anyplace (my living room), there was one person speaking (the storyteller) and one person listening (the audience). Without realizing it we were in the throes of a theatrical performance. This was my first experience of Confessions of a Mormon Boy.
As I worked with the playwright-actor on it over these last number of years, every production has been an attempt to capture for the audience the experience I had in my living room that day. This ferociously honest tale needs no excessive embellishment to make its powerful points. We all come from some community (religious or otherwise) with which we must make our peace as we gain our own beliefs and value systems. Steven’s struggle to incorporate Mormonism into his life as a gay American is metaphoric for any journey to become whole with your traditions and faith. I have always been particularly struck by the play’s refusal to disparage religion. Instead it speaks toward the inclusion of different sensibilities inside the whole.
This is a tale of faith, this is a tale of tradition, this is a tale of self-identification, this is a tale of love. Come gather around our literary campfire and hear this tale we tell.
JACK HOFSISS won his Tony Award for directing the original Broadway production of THE ELEPHANT MAN.
Steven Fales, Ken Daigle, and Jack Hofsiss (front center)
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