Michael Lovestrong lived most of his life under the influence of the high control religion known as Jehovah’s Witnesses. After four and half decades of loyally serving the group, he left and has spent the last 10 years recovering his identity. In Austin, Texas he discovered his love for all things theatre. His first role was in 2021 and he has enjoyed a steady stream of roles to explore character work, accents, physical comedy, backstage, direction, public speaking, creative writing, and audiobook narration. Three years ago, he started writing his story for the stage. UNWITNESSED: The Search for Identity After Leaving a Cult debuted in November 2025 at the Solo Stars Festival in Hollywood, California and in Austin, Texas, as part of the Best of Fest at the Frontera Short Fringe Festival in February 2026.
He is now working on a memoir about the difficulty he experienced leaving the religion to discover his authentic identity. It provides a brief education on high control groups (cults) as well as the serious real life issues faced by current and former members. It uses stories to discuss the dangers of living an imposed identity created by any group exerting undue influence over members’ lives. The hopeful message of self discovery and expression in UNWITNESSED relates to every audience. It is honest and raw in content and a window into the hidden world of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
More to come…
