This afternoon I was present at "Andy's" funeral in Salt Lake City, Utah. Like most funerals, I laughed a little at the remembrance of a loved one, there was a smile or two, but I also cried. All of these emotions were brought about by an amazing piece of theatre entitled "Facing East" now playing at Richmond Triangle Players New Theater through March 6th.
I auditioned for this show, and that is how it came up on my radar. A dear friend of mine, Julie Fulcher-Davis, also directed this show, and I wanted to see her work as well. I bought my ticket last night to attend today's 4:00 matinee. To tell you the truth, I didn't really want to go today. I kept thinking, "I don't want to spend my afternoon crying." But, I paid $20.00 for the ticket, so I went. I am so glad I did!
If you don't know the play, it takes place at the graveside of a young man, Andy, who has taken his own life. His Mormon parents, Alex and Ruth, are there just after the funeral has ended. What follows for the next hour and fifteen minutes is the REAL funeral that Alex insists must take place there with only nature to watch. Alex says that no person should be allowed to attend a funeral of a person they don't know. He goes on to say that He, himself should not be there, and neither should Andy's mother, Ruth. What the audience slowly finds out is that they didn't know their son because he was gay, and their Mormon faith prohibited them from accepting that.
Don't worry, this is not going to be a preachy blog post. This post is about theatre and actors and the courage it takes to stand up in front of complete strangers and show them every bit of what's inside them. These three actors, Melissa Johnston Price as "Ruth", Daniel Moore as "Alex", and Peter O'Shanick as "Marcus" (Andy's partner) show us just what "Andy" meant to all of them, and what losing him means as well. They make us laugh and cry and feel disbelief and anger and empathy and sympathy. This is not a show about homosexuality. It is a show about love and faith and how those things make us feel, and how, sometimes, even though we think we are doing what's right, it hurts those we love.
Go see "Facing East" before it closes. Warning: Take some tissues.
One last thing I wanted to add. If you miss this, you have done yourself a disservice. This is the kind of performance that when you walk away, you feel priveleged to have witnessed it and been a part of it.
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