WORSHIP
By Morag Shepherd
Immigrant's Daughter Theatre in partnership with The Utah Arts Alliance, 2023
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Directed by Stephanie Stroud
Stage Manager - Miranda Giles
Lights by Gail
Design - Mitchell Shepherd
Video - Shawn Saunders
Photos - Mickelle Weber
Performed by Nick Matthews, Renny Grames, Brynn Duncan, Ainslie Shepherd, and Ariana Farber





Per usual, Shepherd conceives her work for accentuating themes in compact, intimate spaces that immerse the audience from the opening scene. In this Immigrant’s Daughter Theatre bare-bones production, in partnership with the Utah Arts Alliance, the staging takes place in a space that resembles a church meeting room, with the small audience (maximum 25 persons each performance) sitting around the perimeter and observing the action taking place barely a few feet in front of them. When becoming uncomfortable is important to finding truth: Morag Shepherd’s Worship in exceptional Immigrant’s Daughter Theatre production (The Utah Review)
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This year’s top moment is shared by two Utah playwrights because their respective works, when combined, articulate the epiphanies of conscience embedded in the historical and contemporary realities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They are Debora Threedy for Mountain Meadows, an immensely satisfying play which received an excellent premiere in a Pygmalion Theatre Company production last winter, and Morag Shepherd’s Worship, which received an exceptional premiere, produced by Immigrant’s Daughter Theatre.
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Incidentally, this is Shepherd’s fifth appearance in The Top 10 Moments of the Utah Enlightenment (2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020) and her first as the top moment of the year. Courage, creative fire, innovation, enterprise: The Utah Review’s Top 10 Moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2023 (The Utah Review)

Though Shepherd’s play is inspired by true crime, don’t expect the writing to be straightforward or easy. Stephanie Stroud, who directs “Worship,” calls Shepherd’s writing style “innately honest in its absurdism and complexity.” While the play scrutinizes the intricate web of power, exposing duplicity and corrosive behavior, Stroud says the play goes beyond the vilification of those in power, delving into themes of forgiveness, redemption, and complicity. Morag Shepherd’s “Worship” Promises an Immersive and Bloody Exploration of Devotion and Power (15 Bytes)
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Shepherd’s writing is tight. She has a well-honed gift for natural, yet pointed dialogue. In this relatively short production, she teases out nuance and probes the depths of relationships. Every word is meaningful. WORSHIP RESONATES WITH THEMES OF POWER AND DISSONANCE (Utah Theatre Bloggers)
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WORSHIP PLAYWRIGHT MORAG SHEPHERD ON DEVELOPING NEW WORK (Utah Theatre Bloggers)
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The script utilizes certain imagery and verbiage to echo throughout the play, connecting the four female characters. Mentions of Rome, a gold watch, Santa at the mall–among other things–create a floating thread through the narrative that sets off a light in the viewer’s mind. Morag Shepherd’s Original Work Worship (Front Row Reviewers)



"The dialogue feels like dancing on top of the surface of a deep lake. You know there is a LOT happening below the surface. You feel the dread and immensity, the subtext is palpable.
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In the end I was left feeling off balance. A great playwright can tilt the floor beneath you." ~ Brenda Hattingh
