What relation to the Latter-day Saints does 'Medea Redux' written by Neil Labute have?

Answer 1

Simple Answer: The only relation to the play "Medea Redux" and the Latter-day Saints is that the writer of the play is a former member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Detailed Answer: Writer, director and playwright Neil LaBute has been producing provocative and critically acclaimed theater, film and fiction for more than a decade in the US and abroad. The one-woman play entitled "Medea Redux" was part of a trilogy performed in New York and LA. 'Medea' tells the story of a girl who was sexually abused and impregnated by her Jr. High teacher, and eventually murders her baby in retaliation. "Medea Redux" received the most attention of the trilogy due to the fact that actress Calista Lockheart performed the leading role. Mr. LaBute attended the LDS-run Brigham Young University in the 1980s, studying acting - play-writing and film. He converted to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1981 during that experience. Mr. LaBute's scripts and plays often deal with the theme of good people being driven to do bad things - and have included Latter-day Saints. Some of his material includes violent and disturbing themes. A few of his stories were eventually considered overly critical of the LDS church, and became grounds for church discipline. Mr. LaBute eventually terminated his church membership in 2005. However, he appears to hold no ill-will. In many interviews he has expressed gratitude for his Mormon experience, and his Latter-day Saint friends. He is always highly complimentary of BYU. In an interview with the Mormon Times and Seasons, Mr. LaBute stated" Even after it was under scrutiny, I never personally felt that the piece was any kind of attack on the church. Even though the four characters have some contact with the church--it's fairly tenuous in the Medea piece, she mentions Utah relatives, but there's not anything to suggest she's a churchgoing member. But because they all seemed to have that connection to the church, I guess people could read that as being all-consuming, as if someone who saw the piece would say, "Well, this is what Mormons are like then." I think that's dangerous in any context: to watch "Fiddler on the Roof," for example, and say, "Well, there are so many Jews out there, that must be exactly what Jews are like," whether or not it's dangerous, is ill-advised simply because it's not very smart thinking. To read the entire interview, see this link: http://timesandseasons.org/index.php/2005/01/an-interview-with-neil-labute/