By Salma Rios
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The University of Iowa Theater Department is known for putting on shows that ordinary theaters would not dream of doing. Mooring, a play written by Ash Pierce and directed by Alice Doherty, is just that type of show.
The play follows the story of a pair of transgender twins, Ellis and Elli, in the aftermath of their cult leader father’s suicide. The two struggle to solidify their identities when he dies, and now they are forced to go their separate ways and come to terms with the manipulation they suffered growing up both at the hands of their father and his new religion.
The play will run at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday in Theater B. It should be noted that some adult themes take place in the production, so viewer discretion is advised. Themes include sexual abuse, depictions of smoking/drug use, and allusions to suicide by electrocution.
Pierce’s own wandering religious background and his identity inspired him to write the piece.
“I really wanted to explore how different people respond to similar trauma for good and for ill,” Pierce said. “In a way, I wrote it as a way to reflect on how I approach difficult subjects such as conflicts of gender, toxic masculinity, the interplay between large bod[ies] of churches that can’t settle if people like me are deserving of room in their places of worship.”
This conflict of who belongs in a church inspired Doherty to take on the play.
“I’m very interested in the psychology behind faith and belief, especially in cases in which the line between church and sect is blurred,” Doherty said. “I’m coming into the project fresh off a yearlong sabbatical researching the impact of the [Latter Day Saints] Church on addiction and homelessness in Salt Lake City, so this play is right up my alley, content-wise.”
Another important thing Pierce wanted to highlight was the “bury your gays” trope in literature and media.
“I’ve made it a sticking a point that the lesbian couple in this play stays happily alive and together at the end, because that sad lesbian trope needs to die,” he said.
Mooring, Workshop Series
When: 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
Where: Theater Building Theater B
Cost: Free