The Play

In 2005, Dwayne Vance wrote a full-length musical play about the Smith family which incorporates the eleven original songs written by Dwayne and John Butler.  The play is copyrighted and may only be performed with permission from both Dwayne and John.

The play takes place in 1846, approximately two years after the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith in Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844.  The narrative portion of the play takes place in the parlor of Lucy Mack Smith in Nauvoo situated in a front corner of the stage.  Sophronia Smith (Joseph’s older sister), Emma Smith (Joseph’s widow) and Agnes Smith (widow of Don Carlos, Joseph’s younger brother) and some of their children pay a visit to Mother Smith.  As Mother Smith relates stories to her grandchildren about various members of the family, the parlor darkens and the story is acted out on the stage.  Each story has an accompanying original song.

The Salt Lake Winder Stake performed the premiere performance of the play on November 18 & 19, 2005.

The play is next scheduled to be performed at The Prospector Theater in the Spring of 2015; more details will follow soon.

Anyone interested in performing the play should contact Dwayne at utefan@q.com.

Poster from Winder Stake performance.


Pictures taken at Winder Stake performance.

From right to left: Dwayne Vance, his mother Gay Smith Vance, his grandfather Eldred G. Smith, his grandmother Hortense Smith.



Cast photo.



Lucy Mack Smith telling stories to her grandchildren.



Lucy Mack Smith praying beneath an apple tree.



Dueling preachers compete for young Joseph's attention.