Play Review: 20 Years Later, Facing East Still Hits Home

Minutes before the show started, Plan-B Theatre’s artistic director — and director of Facing East — Jerry Rapier stepped into the audience and offered a box of tissues. I declined, then noticed the person to my right accepted the gesture, and plenty of others did too. Instant regret. Even if I hadn’t known the story and themes before taking my seat, the painted cemetery backdrop and open-grave set clearly suggest that Facing East might prompt an emotional reaction in this audience in particular.

Plan-B Theatre performed the world premiere of Facing East by Carol Lynn Pearson in November 2006, 20 years ago. It focuses on a married Latter-Day Saint couple, Ruth and Alex McCormick (portrayed by Christy Summerhays and Jay Perry, respectively), who seem to live pious, perfect lives until they have to bury their gay son after he dies by suicide. The unexpected arrival of their son’s partner Marcus (Kaplan Keener) at the graveside shines an intense light on the couple’s parenting choices and beliefs.

Facing East is undisputedly one of Plan-B’s most successful plays. It made history as the first Utah-based production to transfer off-Broadway to New York City’s Atlantic Stage 2 theater in 2007. Audiences at 18 other theaters across the United States and Mexico have experienced what the first audience in Salt Lake City witnessed two decades ago. Not only did Rapier return to direct the play, but Perry, who portrayed Marcus in the premiere production, returned as Alex in this revival. Sadly, Pearson succumbed to uterine cancer on July 26 of this year. This performance is dedicated to the memory of Pearson, Charles Lynn Frost, who created the role of Alex and philanthropist Bruce Bastian, who funded and championed the original production.

The audience enters as soft cello music plays, a nod to Ruth and Alex’s deceased son Andrew’s procession. Sheet music cut into leaves forms a canopy over the stage, letting the lighting design’s autumnal hues or cool tones transform the mood. It’s an aptly peaceful scene, with a beautiful painted backdrop of — if I’m not mistaken — Salt Lake City Cemetery. I’m not surprised to be captivated by the set design, as I was equally impressed with DUMBED DOWN, another Plan-B production that premiered earlier this year and was also the work of scenic designer Janice Chan.

Summerhays and Perry have instant chemistry. Pearson’s dialogue is sharp and witty, letting the audience know it’s okay to laugh even though the setting makes it evident that this is a tragic story. Perry’s haunted eyes sincerely look like those of a man who hasn’t slept in days, and you know Summerhays’ Ruth. You’ve passed her at a grocery store in Utah County, and you’ve seen her in your neighborhood loading up the Hyundai Palisade with kids, sports gear and food trays. Keener is a counterpart to McCormick’s veneer of LDS perfection — his dress, demeanor and mere presence challenge Ruth and Alex’s way of life.

The tension between these three characters is what makes Facing East so affecting. Ruth and Alex must confront the possibility that their understanding of their son was incomplete, while Marcus carries the knowledge of a part of Andrew’s life they never got to see. His presence forces the couple to reckon with the distance between loving their son and accepting who he was. The play doesn’t make grief simple, nor does it suggest that one conversation can undo years of hurt. Instead, it asks whether people can choose compassion and understanding when their beliefs and expectations say otherwise.

At times, the dialogue feels more like a debate than a natural conversation, as the characters explain their opposing views, and there are some funny dated references (where have you been, Michael Moore?). But the directness also gives the audience room to sit with the questions the play raises, rather than hiding them behind ambiguity. The performances keep those arguments grounded in the lives of people who are grieving, confused and trying to make sense of what comes next.

That question of acceptance remains especially relevant in Utah, where Latter-Day Saint faith and culture continue to shape many families’ lives. For queer people who have grown up in religious households, the conflict between belonging to a family and being accepted for who they are can be painfully familiar. 

For parents, the play offers a challenge: loving a child means more than loving the person you imagined they would become. “Facing East” doesn’t ask its audience to abandon faith; Pearson never did, and she became an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community within the Church. It asks what faith looks like when it makes room for empathy, honesty and a loved one’s full identity. Two decades after its premiere, that question remains urgent. The revival is not simply a return to a successful local production; it is a reminder of the conversations families and communities still need to have. The sniffling ovation heard throughout the audience before the curtain call is evidence of that.

Plan-B Theatre’s revival of Facing East is performing in the Studio Theatre at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center from Oct. 22 to Nov. 8, 2026. Unfortunately for those who haven’t already snagged tickets, the run is completely sold out. You can still join the waitlist for tickets on Plan-B’s website. And who knows, perhaps Facing East will find its way back to the East Coast and will play off-Broadway once again. —Rebecca Kathryn Sharp

Read more about theater in Salt Lake City:
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The Death of Nero: Proudly and Loudly Queer

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