Mormon Boy Trilogy Play Descriptions

In his new MORMON BOY TRILOGY, internationally acclaimed actor/playwright Steven Fales (Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination; Overall Excellence Award; Lambda Literary Award Finalist) has created a solo symphony with three self-contained autobiographical one-person plays in repertory. An insider’s insider often straddling opposing worlds, Steven Fales takes audiences on a rollercoaster ride through an Oxy-Mormon life of harrowing events, extravagant personalities, unbelievable obstacles, and hilarious and heart-warming lessons, showing us what it takes to become profoundly human and recover from almost anything—including one's self.

Now incorporating projections with masterful storytelling, all three solo shows together pull out all the emotional and comedic stops, and help define what it was (and is) to be a gay American, father, and human being at the turn of the millennium. A unique theatrical solo performance event, Mormon Boy Trilogy includes Confessions of a Mormon Boy, Missionary Position, and Prodigal Dad. Each play is approximately 90-minutes without intermission and “is self-contained, they do not have to be seen together.”—Washington Post

CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY

A true story of extremes—from perfect model Mormon in Utah to perfect rent boy in Manhattan—outcast Steven Fales ultimately finds a middle ground and learns what it means to finally come home. After conversion therapy, excommunication, divorce, prostitution and drugs, an exiled sixth-generation Latter-gay Saint reclaims his kids and Donny Osmond smile. This extraordinary, life-affirming journey to heck and back is told with humor, song, and The Book of Mormon. Originally directed off Broadway by Jack Hofsiss. “Breathtaking.”—San Diego Union-Tribune; “Honest, moving, whimsical, sobering, tender and cathartic.”—Miami Herald; “Compelling confessional theatre. Fales knows how to sell it.”—NY Times; “Sexy and harrowing. A play that transcends religion, gender, and sexuality. Fales is one hell of a writer.”—SF Examiner; “Riveting. The stuff of great theatre.”—Associated Press; “Brilliantly acted and beautifully written.”—Irish Daily Mail; “Five Stars”—GTimes London; “A triumph."--Newsday

MISSIONARY POSITION

This raucous, poignant prequel to Confessions of a Mormon Boy—based on Steven Fales’s journals from his LDS mission to Portugal—is a coming-of-age tale that takes audiences on an exuberant solo adventure behind the Mormon Machine’s global religious colonization, including the secret cult rites of the temple ceremony never-before-seen onstage. This “mission statement” tenderly sets the stage for Fales’s fall from grace in Confessions while verging on high camp with outrageous fantasy sequences as Elder Fales wrangles with Portuguese Conquistadors, Porn Czars, Mormon Oompa-Loompas, and finally his perky, pious nineteen-year-old self out to re-convert him. What happens in a mission, stays in a mission—until now. “Plenty of seduction. Asks an important question: What is the true care of soul?”—LA Times; “Theatrical genius.”—Houston Chronicle; “Hilarious and powerful.”—BroadwayWorld.com; “A laugh riot.”—NYTheatre.com.

PRODIGAL DAD

The sequel to Confessions, a penniless non-custodial dad returns home to Utah at the height of the Great Recession only to find himself fighting for his life and rights as a father in this compelling family courtroom drama. As he looks to answers from his lost Greco-Mormon heritage, he comes face to face with his own demons and conjures his greatest nemesis, shattering myths and family secrets in an underworld where bipolar ghosts and mortals collide. Will this prodigal ever receive the father’s blessing he craves? Greek and biblical in its themes, all is redeemed and the “sins of the fathers” forgiven by the end of this often dark, powerful, and surprisingly humorous solo dramedy. “Moving and suspenseful and just as funny.”—Washington Post; “His legal battle to retain his rights as a father is a human rights issue, not a gay issue, and struck a chord with many in the audience.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch; “Sheer theatrical brilliance.”—BroadwayWorld.com/Houston; “Emotionally gripping.”—GayRVA.com.