"The Fading Flower" by Mahonri Stewart

For most members of the LDS church, David Hyrum Smith, the youngest of Joseph and Emma Smith's children—born after Joseph's martyrdom—is an unknown. Given by nature to painting and poetry, he was in some ways the most unprepared of the Smith children for the eventual tug-of-war between various Mormon factions hoping to claim the Smith legacy in the years after the main body of the saints moved West. In "The Fading Flower," his new work for the stage premiering this month, Latter-day Saint playwright Mahonri Stewart explores a fascinating part of the Smith family history during the time of David's courtship and Emma's struggles to protect and hold together her maturing family. Mahonri and actress Kathryn Laycock Little, who plays Emma Smith, talk about the play, the characters, and share excerpts recorded during rehearsal. That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...