Against the backdrop of the LDS church's crusade to ban gay marriage in California, and recent aborted meetings with gay and lesbian members, a new play based on the true story of a gay Mormon who committed suicide in 2000 is opening Nov. 1 at the TBG Theatre in New York City.

Roman Feeser wrote Missa Solemnis or The Play About Henry, about Henry Stuart Matis who drove to a ward house in Los Altos, Calif., and shot himself in the head.

The LDS church's PR department can spin a positive note from this bleak exploration of the the church's impact on its homosexual members. The theater world — unlike the Republican religious right — allows that Mormons are Christians. According to the play's production notes:

This provocative drama is based on the actual events of his life in which he faced a tragic, false dilemma; either one is gay or one is Christian. Since he believed he was Christian, he thought he could not be gay. Trapped between his same sex attraction and the power of his LDS faith, Henry made the ultimate sacrifice, removing the chains of his mortality.

Note to Utah County theater lovers planning to fly to New York for the premiere: The play includes full nudity.