‘Two-Headed’ addresses controversial Utah history
The Mountain Meadows Massacre is not a topic works of art are usually based on, however, that didn’t stop Julie Jensen, the playwright of “Two-Headed.” Jensen, a USU graduate, wrote the play with two characters on stage to tell the story of those affected by the massacre, a highly contested event in Utah’s history.
The Mountain Meadows Massacre was a series of attacks on an Arkansas emigrant wagon train that passed through Iron County in 1857. Local men disguised as Native Americans killed more than 100 men, women and children.
The play focuses on two women – Hettie and Lavinia – who are friends, but oftentimes at odds, due to their religion, the practice of polygamy and the emotions surrounding how the massacre affects them each personally.
Those producing the show at USU have adapted it to incorporate 12 people on stage – 10 actresses playing the two characters in five different decades, with two males playing instruments on stage.
The show includes many other aspects besides just acting, said Mary Alley, a senior playing the part of 30-year-old Hettie.
“This has been a fun, artistic endeavor,” she said. “I’ve done a lot of productions at USU, but this one has so many different elements smashed together in one show.”
The show comprises a regular stage set along with a film shown on the wall behind the stage to depict certain additional aspects of the story, Alley said.
“We are playing with music, dance, film and just the overall aesthetics for the show,” Alley said. “We turned it into a 12-person cast with men and music. It’s a rollercoaster of awesomeness.”
The show used to be presented in the Black Box Theatre, but this time it is being presented in the Morgan Theatre, said Jackson Simmons, the show’s stage manager.
“It’s been a really interesting experience, because we are doing an interesting spin on the show,” Simmons said. “It’s not just with two characters. We’re doing it with what is now a large cast – musicians, singers, people making sounds.”
One especially impressive part of the set is the tree piece used on stage, Simmons said. It started as a metal frame the actresses could use to climb on and use during rehearsals and is now a massive bunch of branches and wood twisted together.
“There is a lot of action surrounding the tree,” Simmons said.
There is a ladder on the back of the tree actors can climb, Simmons said.
“This is meant to show that pioneer life was physical – they were washing clothes, sewing,” Simmons said. “At one point the sewing becomes very physical. It’s as if the quilt is attacking and suffocating one of the girls. They are girls in conflict, and they just got physical with those things.
“I think people hear Mountain Meadow and definitely have a reaction because of how we look at what happened,” Simmons said. “But (the play is) not so much about the event itself but how it affected people.”
Younger and older performers play various roles in the show, and one of the biggest challenges for the actresses was being able to portray the same person, just at different points in time, Simmons said.
“The process was very interesting to make them appear like the same person,” Simmons said.
Despite this, Simmons still said the show’s producers still wanted to illustrate the changes that took place throughout each of the character’s lives.
“People evolve throughout the years, though – and not just over 10 years – but every year people change,” Simmons said.
For Katie Marsh, a junior majoring in theater performance, playing the part of 10-year-old Lavinia was the hardest thing to work out between all of the actresses, she said.
“At the beginning of the production we got together to see what we could bring that was similar for the character,” Marsh said. “We all wanted to bring an essence of the character – it was a challenge.”
One thing that helped those involved in the production figure out the details of their parts was meeting the author, she said.
“It was a real treasure to talk to the author and to dig into the details from her,” Marsh said. “We got stuff from her that we wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.”
“Two-Headed” opens at 7:30 p.m. Monday in the Morgan Theatre at the Chase Fine Arts Center. General admission tickets are $13, senior citizens and youths are $10, faculty and staff are $8, and students with ID get in free.
– mandy.m.morgan@aggiemail.usu.edu