The act of storytelling that drives Tatum Langton, and following that calling brings her a sense of purpose and peace, driving her to push herself into new and daring creative challenges. Photo courtesy of Daniel Sripuntanagoon

Tatum Langton on Her One-Woman Show REDEEMher

By
May 18, 2023

Performance & Theatre

REDEEMher
Clubhouse SLC

Thursday, May 18 7–9 p.m.
Friday, May 19 7–9 p.m.

An actor is a storyteller. As both a performer and a writer, Tatum Langton had a story of her own that she felt needed to share. Salt Lake audiences will get a chance to experience that story this week when the acclaimed one-woman show REDEEMHer: How I Screwed Up My Perfect Mormon Life plays for two nights on May 18 and 19 at Clubhouse in Salt Lake City.

“I had been trying to write it for years,” Langton says of the dramatic story that she lived through more than a decade ago. REEDEMher follows Tatum, a young woman who enters into an eternal marriage in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Tatum dreams of moving to London to study acting, yet the years slip by, and she’s still in Utah with the increasingly taxing pressures of marriage, money and Mormonism. 

“I had been trying to write it for years.”

Tatum Langton stars in REDEEMher, a one-woman play Langton wrote.
“Perhaps it was because we don’t often see women trying to stand up for themselves or speaking out … That was the first thing I wrote, and everything fell into place after that.” Photo courtesy of Daniel Sripuntanagoon

Feeling alone and vulnerable, Tatum succumbs to the overtures of another man. A sinner with a scarlet letter emblazoned on her soul, Tatum falls into despair and seeks forgiveness and understanding from her husband, her Church and herself. Embarking on a journey of self discovery, she finds her life moving in a new direction. 

“I tried to write it … as a short [film], and it just was never quite coming out the way I wanted it to,” Langton says. A Utah native and graduate of Utah Valley University, Langton moved to Los Angeles 11 years ago to pursue a full-time acting career. Her credits include Grey’s Anatomy and American Crime Story. Once she cemented the concept of a one-woman show, Langton began working with Jessica Lynn Johnson, a director and recipient of the Best National Solo Artist Award, to bring her story to the page and to the stage.  Johnson served as Langton’s “writing coach”, advising throughout the process and giving feedback as the script began to take shape, and the directing Langton when it came time to stage it. The actual writing was still in Langton’s hands, and once her creative juices got flowing, the material came pouring out.

“I just wrote a little snippet about these women that kept calling me brave throughout the experience of my divorce,” Langton says of the play’s content. “Perhaps it was because we don’t often see women trying to stand up for themselves or speaking out … That was the first thing I wrote, and everything fell into place after that.” Langton portrays a diverse group of characters in the show, including her husband, her Bishop and her own dueling inner voices.

“I just wrote a little snippet about these women that kept calling me brave throughout the experience of my divorce”

Headshot for Tatum Langton, author of the one-woman play REDEEMher.
“I was very conscious going in that I didn’t want to write a Mormon show.” Photo courtesy of Nogan Beck

REDEEMher had its premiere at the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2021 and was officially selected by Binge Free Fringe 2021, SoloFest 2022 and Solo Stars Series 2022 with a selected encore in 2023. The winner of the Association of Mormon Letters Drama Award 2021, REDEEMher also ran for 26 consecutive days in Scotland at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022. Even with such resounding success, Langton says that the thought of performing this deeply personal show in front of audiences, which may include familiar faces and those who at least think they know her story, is intimidating and exciting. The two-night run at the Clubhouse will be only the second time the show has played in Utah, following a sold-out night in Provo in November of 2022. 

The religious themes of REEDEEMher may Utah audiences’ interest, and Langton feels that audiences might be in for a surprise. “I was very conscious going in that I didn’t want to write a Mormon show,” she says, not wanting to be limited by expectations that it into the niche of a PG rated, warm and fuzzy piece aimed at only one audience. At the same time, those looking for a bitter rant against the faith aren’t going to find it here. “I’m very much not anti-Mormon,” Langton says. “There’s a lot I don’t agree with, but I have a lot of respect for where I come from, and still in a lot of ways [I] practice those beliefs. But, I’m very comfortable making jokes about our church and especially about myself, and I think maybe that’s what makes it universal.”

“I was very conscious going in that I didn’t want to write a Mormon show.”

The act of storytelling that drives Tatum Langton, and following that calling brings her a sense of purpose and peace, driving her to push herself into new and daring creative challenges.

REDEEMher: How I Screwed Up My Perfect Mormon Life will perform at at 7 p.m. on May 18 and 19 at The Clubhouse at 850 E. South Temple, and tickets can be purchased at redeemher-at-clubhouse.eventbrite.com.

Read more on local theatre:
A Portrait of Humor and Sadness in The Melancholy Play
Utah Playwright Jenifer Nii’s Final Farewell with Fire!