Actor, playwright, and stand-up comedian Steven Fales debuted his one-man play, “Confessions of a Mormon Boy,” as a reading at the 2001 Salt Lake Sunstone Symposium. In this play, Fales tells the captivating story of his failed attempt to overcome his “same-sex attraction” through “reparative therapy,” which resulted in his divorce and excommunication from the Mormon Church. After his perfect Mormon world fell apart, Fales took his pain and confusion to New York City where he quickly descended into the gay underworld of escorting and drugs. Both touching and funny, Mormon Boy is a 90-minute reclamation saga of a Latter-day prodigal son.

This very personal play shows the link between spiritual abuse and addiction. Fales defines spiritual abuse as any time an individual, group, or institution uses religion to justify telling or showing anyone they are not worthy of god’s full love and blessings. Mormon Boy also illustrates the dilemma of those struggling to reconcile their dreams of becoming straight with the realities of being gay and what it costs to accept or deny that truth when children are involved.

In this SunstonePodcast episode, Sunstone editor Dan Wotherspoon interviews Steven about the play’s journey from its earliest incarnations, full of Mormon in-humor and a soft-pedaling of the darkest parts of Steven’s journey, to its arrival in New York, now bolder, brasher, more fully self-revelatory.

In the interview, Steven talks openly about the play and the many twists and turns it took on its way to this prestigious venue, as well as the personal issues he deals with in the play and as a gay father. Steven also offers a moving perspective on the kinds of spiritual abuse that too often occur in the name of love.

To learn more about the play, visit www.mormonboy.com. For show or ticket inquiries, visit www.sohoplayhouse.com.

To listen to this podcast, click here.

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