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By Kent Larsen
Mormon Actor Helps Lampoon Utah LDS Culture in 'Saturday's Voyeur'
ROY, UTAH -- The Salt Lake Acting Company's annual lampoon of all things
Utah, including the local LDS culture and influence in the state, has again
graced the stage, but this year, in an usual move, the play includes an
active LDS actor. Rock H. White is described in a Salt Lake Tribune profile
this week as a "New Mormon," an active church member who is liberal, open
minded, and who didn't attend BYU.
White lives in Roy Utah, where he is an active member of the Roy Eighth
ward, where he is music coordinator and teaches in the Elder's Quorum. He is
also a returned missionary, a drama teacher, and a performing arts graduate
of Weber State University who has appeared in local musicals such as the
Utah Memorial Theatre's production of "Oklahoma" and Sundance Theatre's "The
Music Man."
But while White says he is devoted to the Church, he says he is also
embarrassed by the behavior of some Church members, "In [Saturday's Voyeur]
they pinpoint those people that I, as a missionary, would cringe about,"
White says. "They make fun of people that use sacred things to impress
people or to try to control, instead of letting people choose the right on
their own. There have been a few bishops in my life growing up in the church
who made stupid mistakes that affected my family. I know they are human, but
some of the things they do are embarrassing, or strange. It's easy for me to
re-create on those people." White says he hasn't received any negative
feedback from his ward or from his bishop, but he says that some of his
relatives are shocked that he is in a show that "mocks our people and our
church."
Saturday's Voyeur is a long-running annual production of the Salt Lake
Acting Company, which has used the show, almost always sold-out for its
several month-long run, as a fund raiser for the group. The name of the show
is itself a take-off on the name of the popular, but critically-panned LDS
musical "Saturday's Warrior," and LDS themes have always been a part of the
show. This year's show, written by Allen Nevins and Nancy Borgenicht, pokes
fun at Utah's pornography czar, Paula Houston, as well as the often-fuzzy
line between church and state. It includes references to LDS cultural
emblems like Jell-o, wedding receptions in LDS basketball courts and the
recent controversy over the sale of a block-long section of main street in
Salt Lake City to the LDS Church.
White plays a self-righteous LDS Bishop and representative who is a
pornography crusader. However, the character is less-than-saintly, lying and
using coercion to get his objectives. While White says he's not comfortable
with everything in the play, he says its important for Mormons to take a
different look at themselves, "There are a couple of lines in the show that
I still cringe at every night. The show doesn't squash any sacred cows, but
there are brief moments where they push the line pretty far for comedy's
sake. But I do feel that a show like this is great for both members of the
LDS church and non-members to see if you are willing to laugh at yourself.
It's a healthy bit of medicine for LDS people to see what we look like to
other citizens of this state."
Source:
Mormon Actor Finds Utah's World a Fitting Stage for Satire
Salt Lake Tribune 1Sep01 A2
By Celia Baker: Salt Lake Tribune
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