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CurtainUp Fringe Review of “Missionary Position”
By Steven Fales | August 29, 2010
In a memorably upbeat show at NY Fringe a few years ago Steven Fales took us from growing up as enthusiastic Mormon boy and ended as sex worker in the big city. It makes a great story, but between start and finish there’s still a lot to be told. As traditional rite of passage at about college age, Mormons traditionally go to a foreign country for two years and aim to baptize as many living and dead souls as possible. Always proceeding in pairs, their clean cut looks and rudimentary local language aid them in this self- and family-financed period. Dealing with the realities of the church’s tight administrative structure in northern Portugal was but one challenge. By then Fales’s conflict between strict church teachings and awareness of his gay tendencies was welling up. In somber tones he recounts his unresolved feelings and also late-night conversations with his various mates about sex matters that were all off limits as Mormons. Returning home, Fales was ready to move toward his Endowment Ceremonies. Conducted at a Mormon temple, these rituals impress on the member the seriousness of his quest for salvation. Fales strips for us and dons a pleated white toga covering front and back, topped off with a green mason-sized apron tied about his waist. From here he describes the ultimate Ceremony of the Veil in a blazing white space where the member declares allegiance to the tenets of the church in presence of family. Switching to humorous mode, Fales concludes this behind-the-scenes account as his doubts about himself as a good Mormon were beginning to peak. His tale is as lively as the first installment, but a third part promises to be as interesting. Fales is telling his own story but he is also presenting details only an insider would know about Mormonism. For an audience that knows little about this sect, this show can be an eye-opener. It would be easy to come away with a new-found respect for the family cohesion and clean living (no cuss words and no alcohol, coffee or tea either) they espouse. One suspects Fales feels some of this respect as well. At SoHo Playhouse. 90 minutes. [Lipfert]
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