We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Morag Shepherd a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Morag , appreciate you joining us today. What’s the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

For an assignment in one of my English classes in college, we had to go and see a play and write a response. I randomly chose a rinky dink show in the basement of the arts building and enjoyed it so much that I looked up the playwright: Eric Samuelsen. To be honest, at the time, I was shocked! The play was about a couple driving from BYU to Nevada so that the wife could engage in s*x work to get them a little cash. Seriously, I was like, “what the f*ck,” but in a very mormon, “what the f*ck,” way.

When Eric Samuelsen had a show, I was there, and at the time, I think the sole reason I was there was because I couldn’t believe that this mormon professor at BYU was getting away with writing this stuff. Ha! Needless to say, I ultimately enrolled in an Eric Samuelsen playwriting class, and the controversy in the room was only heightened. I was hooked and I entirely blame Eric for coaxing me to be the rebel I was. And I blame him in the best way possible.

Our first assignment was to write a ten-minute play, and I think what I was “allowed” to explore in that room really showed me that plays, and writing plays, was the thing that made me feel full and creative. At that time, around 2005, playwriting was the only space on the whole campus where we could discuss real conflict, express our difficulties with the system, swear, and be real. Eric told me that I was good. Then he kept telling me I was good. And finally, I started to believe him.

A fair few years later, Eric Samuelsen came to a show that I had written and helped produce. After the show he came up to me and said, “f*ck.” It’s probably the best and kindest compliment I’ve ever received.

Since that time Eric has passed away, but I will never forget his mentorship and kindness, and how he urged me onto a creative path that has made my life so meaningful.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Morag Shepherd, and I primarily identify as a working artist. I have written multiple plays that have been showcased in Utah, California, New York, and one of my plays will be performed in Edinburgh, Scotland this coming summer. Lately the bulk of my work has been directing plays in the local community—I work for Pygmalion theatre Company, Hart Theater Company, Sackerson, Immigrants Daughter Theatre, and have also directed for Plan-B Theatre, An Other Theater Co., and Wasatch Theatre Company. I have been writing, directing and producing for over twenty years and first got into the theatre craft in college, although I grew up loving everything on the stage.

The thing that I am the most passionate about is immersive and site-specific work, especially going into underutilized spaces and reinvigorating them with performance and art. One of the projects I helped write, direct, and produce took place in an old store at The Gateway downtown, where we used the changing rooms to stage different moments from the main character’s life. Each of the rooms was designed by a different visual artist, and the overall effect was unique and impactful. Sackerson is the company that specifically focuses on new works, in unique and unconventional spaces, for bold audiences.

Overall I can work with traditional plays and theatre, but I feel that unique spaces and thinking outside of the box for what theatre can be is where I thrive.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the collaboration from each of the projects. Every time I start work on a play I get to work with new people and see what it is we can all bring to the table during rehearsals. The rehearsals are always more rewarding than the actual performances, because it’s in rehearsals that we all get to play, make mistakes, try again, and spend time just reworking the minutia of the work. It’s honestly so fun.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

The best way that society can support artists is by going out, buying tickets, and being the audience. To create in this way, all we need is a space, some actors, and then, an audience. We literally can’t do our work without the audience, which makes theatre so different than other art forms. Theatre is almost a living thing, it changes and shifts with the presence of an audience in the moment, it can become completely transformed, all because of the presence of the looker. So, yeah, getting people out to support, and helping to get the word out to fill the seats is probably the most important thing for theatre practitioners.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: mogsiepogie
• Facebook: Morag Shepherd
• Other: https://linktr.ee/moragshepherd?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=63395395-b913-437f-bf28-683e2deab1d5

Image Credits

Ashley Thalman, Brighton Sloan, Laura Chapman, Mitchell Shepherd