Playwright Carol Lynn Pearson to Do talkback March 22 after Facing East performance at Diversionary

Noted LDS (Latter Day Saints) author Carol Lynn Pearson will visit Diversionary Theatre during opening weekend of her play Facing East. Carol Lynn will do a talkback after the Sunday, March 22 matinee (2pm performance).

Ruth and Alex McCormick are an upstanding Mormon couple reeling from the suicide of their gay son. In Facing East, they are stuck between the comfort of their faith and the unfamiliarity of their new reality when they meet their son's partner, Marcus, for the first time. Although centered on Mormon characters, the play is for anyone of any faith, anyone with a family, anyone who has felt the pain of loss, anyone with hope for change. The Salt Lake Tribune wrote of the play, which premiered at Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City in November 2006, "A tightly-wound domestic tragedy...freshly relevant...dares to ask important questions about faith, death and survival." In 2007, Variety said of Plan-B's tour (Off-Off Broadway and San Francisco), "A vivid rumination on grief." Marybeth Bielawski-DeLeo directs the play. The cast of three features Dana Hooley, John Polak and Scott Striegel.

Carol Lynn Pearson has been a professional writer, speaker, and performer for many years. In addition to her volumes of poetry, she is well known for such books as her autobiography, Goodbye, I Love You, which tells the story of her marriage to a homosexual man, their divorce and ongoing friendship, and her caring for him as he died of AIDS; Consider the Butterfly, which tells forty-four of her personal stories of meaningful coincidence and was a finalist in the inspiration/spiritual category of the 2002 Independent Publishers Book Awards; and a series of inspirational books that began with The Lesson. Her five Christmas books include The Christmas Moment, published in 2005 by Cedar Fort, and the classic, A Stranger for Christmas. Carol Lynn has been a guest on such programs as The Oprah Winfrey Show and Good Morning, America and has been featured in People magazine. She has a master of arts in theater, is the mother of four grown children, and lives in Walnut Creek, California. Her website is www.clpearson.com.

Copies of the book Goodbye, I Love You, will be on sale at Diversionary throughout the run of Facing East.

Started in 1986, the mission of Diversionary Theatre is to produce plays with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender themes that portray characters in their complexity and diversity both historically and contemporarily.

Facing East will preview on March 19 and 20, and open on Saturday, March 21 and run through Sunday, April 5. Performance times are: Wednesday & Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday & Saturday at 8:00pm and Sunday at 2:00 & 7:00pm. Single tickets, priced $29-$33 with discounts for seniors, students and military, are now on sale. For information, call the Diversionary box office at 619.220.0097 or log on to www.diversionary.org.