Plays
Facing East
A stage play that tells the story of a Mormon couple dealing with the suicide of their gay son. The scene is the cemetery directly after the funeral, with Alex and Ruth trying to understand. Suddenly someone arrives whom they have never met, Marcus, their son’s deeply-loved partner. Tension turns into listening, and understanding begins. “Best Play” award by the Deseret News, followed by a limited Off-Broadway run.
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Mother Wove the Morning
A one-woman play in which I perform sixteen women throughout history in search of the female face of God. Performed over 300 times internationally. “Booklist” cited this video as “one of the top 25 videos of the year.”
For more information on the play, click here. To order a copy of the play on DVD, click here. To purchase streaming access of Mother Wove the Morning, click here.
My Turn on Earth
A musical. Five children from heaven play out mortality as a treasure hunt, with LOVE being the great prize. My Turn On Earth is the story of each of us playing out a delightful and poignant answer to the ever-burning question — what in the world am I doing here? And what is the treasure, the most precious thing of all? Time is of the essence. Suddenly their turn is finished. Has the treasure been found? Contemporary, best-selling music — a story to captivate young and old — My Turn on Earth is a winner.
For more information, click here.
To order a copy of the My Turn On Earth storybook, click here.
The Order Is Love
A musical. The tale of Orderville, Utah—1875-1885—where over 700 Saints lived and worked and played and prayed together in the United Order, a version of the Law of Consecration, seeking Zion, learning tolerance and patience, expanding “love” towards “charity.” We see our own foibles and failings in those of the residents of Orderville as they learn the hard lessons of sharing, giving, getting along, and wondering how can I love my neighbor even when I can’t even stand him and after all I work harder than he does and my skilled work is worth more than his lowly weed-pulling. And oh, it’s about romantic love too, discovering that people are more important than things and that most important of all is how we treat one another. The play reaches a universal dimension as it shows man, whose feet are forever bound to mortal soil, but whose soul continues to reach for – and sometimes touch – a star. Premiered by Brigham Young University in 1971. “This is considered one of a few watershed plays in the development of Mormon drama because it raised professional writing standards and reached a commercial audience.”
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The Dance
A musical. Come to the dance and meet: Couple #1 — Neil and Karen “the perfect married couple” to everyone but themselves; Couple #2 — Howard, still searching for “the right one” 14 years after his mission, and Alison, a recently divorced mother of three; ‘Couple’ #3 — Brad, 18, and suffering from his first broken heart, and Janet, an unclaimed jewel of 23. “You come to the dance ‘cause there’s a chance that something good might, just might, happen tonight” is a lyric from the opening song of this LDS classic.
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A Stranger for Christmas
Two ladies in a rest home are arguing. Florence, who has never had a real family Christmas, fantasizes that a family would come along and take her in for the holiday, but of course no family would put themselves out that way. Yes, they would, says her roommate Myrna who has had years of storybook Christmases with her five children. To prove their differing viewpoints, they invent the fictitious Genevieve, a little old lady in a rest home near Myrna's children in Idaho. If one of them will agree to take “her” in, Florence will really believe in Christmas. A laugh and cry ending if ever there was one. Dramatized from the author’s bestselling book of the same name.
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Don’t Count Your Chickens Until They Cry Wolf
Aesop was never so charming as in Don't Count Your Chickens Until They Cry Wolf, a tour de force of Aesop's world. This musical, with optional participation elements, involves every age in tuneful pleasure, making audiences into actors. Filled with ancient wisdom and today's wit, clever lyrics and singable modern music, it is an irresistible attraction confected by Carol Lynn Pearson and J.A.C. Redford. Highlights include: the famous race of tortoise and hare ("You got to keep on keeping on"); a soft-shoe number by the fox ("Flatter them, and you'll walk away with the cheese"); a rousing peasant dance in the bundle of sticks ("The trick is to stick together"); a chorus line of sheep ("If he's got fleece but the wrong kind of nose, maybe he's simply a wolf in sheep's clothes").
For more information, click here.
I Believe in Make Believe
A charming musical version of the best-loved fairy tales. I Believe in Make Believe delightfully presents five world-favorite fairy tales by the Brothers Grimm in an irresistible musical setting. Beginning and ending with the story of the princess who wouldn't laugh, we experience the adventures of the shoemaker and the elves, the Bremen Town musicians, the seven soldiers, and that lovable dunce, Simpleton. This is a fresh musical show not to be missed, chock-full of audience-participation opportunities (optional), and with plenty of excitement for children and plenty of wit for the grownups.
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Pegora the Witch
Here is a play of sheer frou-frou, intentionally frivolous and deliciously original. Pegora, an apprentice witch, has a flaw in her nature—she cannot help doing good. When the head witch, Mother Martacloy, learns that Pegora has made a contribution to the Orphaned Children's Home, she orders the unfortunate misfit stripped of her broom. Pegora begs for one last chance, and Mother Martacloy grants it on condition that Pegora kidnap, one by one, the seven princesses of a neighboring kingdom. Through a series of highly amusing blunders, she actually succeeds in this despite the king's elaborate precautions. But she is finally outwitted by the court jester, and rescued from the clutches of Mother Martacloy.
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Caravan: A Happy Journey through Wisdom Tales of Judaism, Islam and Christianity
“An enemy is someone whose story you do not know.” This play is a celebration of three cultures that often live in distrust and misunderstanding, but that have much in common and indeed have much to be learned from each other. The framework in which the wisdom tales are told is that of a Caravan whose sole purpose is to select the next Sultan from the current Sultan’s two sons. The trick is that they are seeking the answer to a riddle: What is the most powerful force in the world? He with the wisest answer given upon their return from a year-long quest will become the Sultan. Through dramatic and comic moments the wisdom of Faith in its many faces and aspects is shown; and we find that all Faith stems from the same basic wisdom.
This play is a gift from its author toward creating peace and understanding in our world. If your group – amateur, educational, religious, or even professional – wishes to use the play for that purpose in a non-commercial setting (meaning no admission is charged and/or no fee received for doing a performance), we will be happy to license you for non-royalty performances. Caravan is also available without royalty charge to use within the school classroom (no public performances), religious classes and instruction, or family activity.
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Move On
The play is based on journal entries, diary accounts, and folk songs of the Mormon pioneers crossing the plains to create their new home, their Zion in the Rocky Mountains. Through stirring historical scenes and monologues, folk songs and hymns of the era, the Saints’ journey comes vividly to life. Title song composed by Marvin Payne, along with all the other songs, can be played by the cast on guitars and other pioneer instruments.
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The Apple Kingdom
The people in the Apple Kingdom live on apples: apple soup, apple salad and, of course, apple pies. Jonathan and Blossom are two fun-loving but not so innocent twins and on their birthday they play a trick on the townspeople that backfires. They say that an "Applephoon" is coming that will destroy all of the apples in the kingdom's orchards. The villagers, all being selfish, immediately run to the orchards and begin picking all the apples and carrying them home by the buckets full. After all the apples are picked, the villagers find that they are stricken with a strange case of "appleplexy" and their arms won't bend at the elbows. They soon realize they will never eat apples again. The solution to the problem is very simple, if they would only stop being so selfish! Some songs include: “Not Enough Love,” “Every Man for Himself,” “Scientific Science,” “There’s Nothing a Machine Can’t Do!” and “Feed Someone.”
For more information, click here.
Martyr-In-Waiting
A group of young Mormon actors are putting on a play about the hardships of the early Saints. They are idealistically ready to follow those footsteps and are even envious of the early Saints’ opportunities to sacrifice. However, when they are called upon to make real sacrifices in the modern world they are not up to it.
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