Where Are Our “Shakespeares”?

(One-hundred-thirty-one years in the wings?)

One of the most quoted phrases when speaking of gospel-based art is from an 1888 prophecy by Orson F. Whitney:

We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own.¹

So far as we know, our latter-day Shakespeares—our playwrights combining great language, historical knowledge, prescience, humor, understanding, insight, courage, vision, etc., etc.—are still in the wings OR are struggling to find audiences in this age of “Amusing Ourselves to Death.”².

Here are some recent thoughtful comments and insights:

▪ Where are the Mormon Shakespeares and Michelangelos?
by Jana Riess, June 30, 2017 at
https://religionnews.com/2017/06/30/where-are-the-mormon-shakespeares-and-michelangelos/

▪ Miltons & Shakespeares: a new direction
Thmazing 03/31/2014 at
https://motleyvision.org/2014/03/31/miltons-shakespeares-a-new-direction/

▪ Unrealistic Expectations of Mormon Miltons and Shakespeares
Posted on November 10, 2013 by jettboy at
https://www.millennialstar.org/unrealistic-expectations-of-mormon-miltons-and-shakespeares/

▪ Mormons Offer Cautionary Lesson on Sunny Outlook vs. Literary Greatness
by Mark Oppenheimer Nov. 8, 2013 at
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/09/us/mormons-offer-cautionary-lesson-on-sunny-outlook-vs-literary-greatness.html

Perhaps, we don't have to be or aspire to be a “Shakespeare.” Perhaps we need only to find and fulfill the measure of our own unique creation with the divine gifts and life experiences we have each been given.

We may also need to serve in “the role of artistic Eliases” as Eric Samuelsen wrote in 1995:³

Certainly, the Mormon Shakespeare will come in God’s good time; we must have patience, and we must continue to hope. But we must also begin doing what we can to prepare the way for future genius. Perhaps we must serve in the role of artistic Eliases [bold emphasis added] for the Shakespeare who will come. Yet, when I look at the question of building a Mormon drama today, I feel a greater sense of urgency than ever before. As the Church moves into greater prominence in American and world society, I am convinced that we, as a people and a culture, must begin defining ourselves dramatically.

Samuelsen's insight may be the key to revealing good and great playwrights—the artistic Eliases that go before. Can MV.NP Forum establish itself as one of those artistic Eliases?

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1. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_F._Whitney ; also http://mldb.byu.edu/homelit.htm
2. Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, succinctly explains why so much latter-day greatness, in every culture, has been and is being, stillborn.
3. See https://mv-npforum.blogspot.com/2009/08/another-voice-in-theatre-wilderness.html