God’s Fools: Four Plays by Thomas Rogers

Abstract

Reviews 349 God’s Fools: Four Plays. By Thomas Rogers. (Midvale, Utah: Signature Books, 1983. 233 pages.) God’s Fools, a volume of plays by Thomas Rogers, quotes as epigraphs the Bible, Dostoevsky, and the Mormon Doctrine and Covenants — an early indication of the plays’ range and world view. For less discerning readers, the writer’s Preface provides an apologia, a sermonette, and literary criticism which, fortunately, the plays themselves supersede. Huebener recounts the historical events which led to the arrest and death of a young Mormon in Nazi Germany. Like the rest of the volume, this play pits individual conscience against a church which, in turn, is trying to survive a dangerous political situation. Rogers neither romanticizes nor oversimplifies plot dynamics: the Mormon Church “renders unto Hitler” and excommuni­ cates its courageous, idealistic Huebeners. In spite of some stereotyped vil­ lains and a rather superficial trial scene, the play smoothly traverses a com­ pelling plot and crucial issues. The other historical play, Fire in the Bones, dramatizes the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre through John D. Lee and his complex rela­ tionship to Brigham Young. Like Huebener, Lee acts from conscience to save his soul but to damn his memory, at least temporarily in Mormon history. In spite of the enormity of this material, which calls for genuine dramatic genius, Rogers builds very credible motivation for the massacre, effective scenes of avoiding responsibility, and real pathos for the scapegoat Lee. The playwright wisely employs a circular structure, allowing the play to depart from and return to the firing squad in an ironic affirmation of rebirth, both for Lee and his church. Reunion is a self-proclaimed “classic debate” among real Mormons over relevant, contemporary issues. A typical family gathers for one son’s mis­ sionary farewell, only to discover that their father has cancer and that they have failed as children, lovers, or fathers themselves. Applying amateur psychology and unblushing dei ex machina, the play discusses righteousness judged by worldly success and the relationship between the Mormon Church and the business world. Its candor is both unexpected and refreshing. Journey to Golgotha is at once the least dogmatic and the most religious of the plays, detailing the position of writers and religious dissidents in Russia. By following the dictates of true patriotism, a young man in the Komsomol rejects a paternal figure, thereby finding his real father and Christ. The play enriches a basic spy story with religious ardor, translated Russian poetry, and some of the writer’s strongest characters. “Christ’s fools,” or jurodivy, populate the entire volume — those who journey to Golgotha with courage and their “father’s” ghosts, those for whom religious commitment often costs family, friends, and life itself. Although in subtle ways Rogers affirms the Mormon ethos, he does ask important ques­ tions — never quite point-blank, but never quite along “party lines,” either. Perhaps he identifies with the “church intellectuals” he describes in Reunion. Under the aegis of his religious stance, the writer does weave swift and engag­ 350 Western American Literature ing story lines through a wide variety of subjects;but his characters sometimes lack definition and individuality. Rogers accuses himself of “Maryolatry,” but, except for Golgotha, not only female audiences would find his women stereotyped when not downright ignored. And too often, the writer indulges in jargon lost on a non-Mormon audience, like “being someone’s mouth” or “making points with a Seventy.” Nonetheless, any audience — intellectual or professional, male or female, Mormon or not — will find in these plays ideas worth investigating: the place of the individual in any church, the church in the state, and the state under God. ADEN ROSS, Salt Lake City, Utah A River Runs Through It. By Norman Maclean. (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1983. 124 pages, $25.00.) Wheels off, the boxcar sits on the gravel outside town. From its faded side, a mountain goat, trademark of the Great Northern Railroad, stares out, a disinterested observer of the rude bar’s clientele. Neal, a self-deluded DavisCup aspirant mollycoddled by his mother, is buying the drinks. Beside him sits Old Rawhide, whilom beauty queen of Wolf Creek (pop. 111). Day after day, she lies...