KAYENTA NEW PLAY LAB
Mountain Meadows And The Little Schoolteacher
by Debora Threedy (Dammeron Valley, UT)
Saturday, August 23, 7:30pm
Sunday, August 24, 3:00pm
The Lorraine Boccardo Theater
This play is based on the life of Juanita Brooks, particularly the years from 1918 to 1951. The central mystery of her life is this: She was a seemingly ordinary Mormon housewife. Widowed as a young mother, married a second time to a man 17 years her senior, she had five children of her own and helped raise her husband’s four sons. She held positions of authority in her Church. She worked at a job for almost her entire life. How did such a woman come to publish the first accurate account of the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre, the full story of which had been actively suppressed by the LDS Church for nearly a hundred years? Where did she get the courage to tell the truth despite the opposition of her community and even family?
About Debora Threedy
Debora Threedy has a BA in Theatre Arts from Beloit College. Following graduation, she worked full-time in theatre, including as a member of the company at the New American Theater in Rockford, Illinois. She then switched careers and ultimately became a law professor at the University of Utah, until she retired to devote more time to playwriting. The first full-length play she wrote was accepted by the Utah Shakespeare Festival for a workshop and public readings in 2006 (under the name Nemo 1934); it was then produced by Plan-B Theatre in 2008 (as The End of the Horizon) and again in October 2021, at the Center for the Arts at Kayenta. She has returned to the Utah Shakespeare Festival for two more workshops: in 2016, with One Big Union, and in 2022 with Balthazar. Both were subsequently produced by Plan-B. Her second full-length play, The Third Crossing, won the Fratti-Newman New Political Play competition in 2010 in New York and was later produced by Plan-B. Her children’s play, Alli and #3, funded by an NEA grant, toured Utah elementary schools around the state in the 2021-22 school year. Her play, Mountain Meadows, was produced by Pygmalion Productions in 2023 and the Utah Review recognized it as the “top moment” in the Utah Enlightenment for 2023 (tied with another production). Her last two plays, Postcards from Mecca (co-written with Teresa Sanderson) and Never Ask, were both workshopped by the Kayenta New Play Lab in 2023 and 2024. She is currently at work on two more plays. Originally from the Chicago area, Debora has lived in Utah since 1986 and resides in southwestern Utah.
KAYENTA NEW PLAY LAB
Now in its third year, the Kayenta New Play Lab is where bold new voices in American theater come to life. Over three exhilarating weeks, six visionary playwrights—chosen by a panel of esteemed local and national theatermakers—dive into an intensive creative residency, shaping fresh, original works for the stage.
Audiences are invited to witness the magic unfold through staged readings of these brand-new plays—raw, real, and alive with possibility. Stay after each reading for an engaging dialogue with the artists, where your feedback helps shape the evolution of each piece.
Whether you’re a dedicated theatergoer, a curious creative, or someone who simply loves the thrill of live performance, the New Play Lab is your front-row seat to the next wave of theatrical storytelling. Come be part of the process. Come be inspired.
The 2025 Kayenta New Play Lab is generously sponsored by Douglas Caputo and Desert Dweller Real Estate.
