A Lie of the Mind: Reviewus Interruptus

Let me start by saying it would be unfair to review the performance I attended tonight, as the performance had to be cut short due to illness of one of the performers. I hope tomorrow will see them well & fighting fit. That said, the quality of the 2/3rds of the production I saw tonight surpassed many entire shows I've seen over the years. I'd like to share my impressions and encourage you to come along and see it in its no doubt enthralling entirety. Talk about leaving them wanting more! I should Google or Wiki all this to be sure, but what I saw in Blak Yak's production of Sam Shepard's play, A Lie of the Mind, directed by Matt Longman, was a fascinating drama based on two families' responses to a brutal incident of domestic violence. The simple set, with differing levels to denote separate scenes, evocative music, and carefully chosen costumes all gave us a sense of place. Lighting was effective. One instance in particular, where Jake recalls in a flash, a vision of Beth "oiling herself", worked well for me. The performances were all sound and committed, and the roles well-cast. As the performance was cut short, the development and journey of some (and I daresay all) of the characters was not revealed, but I was intrigued by each and every one, and how each arrived at their very defined feelings about the incident which serves as catalyst for this plot. A few performances stood out in what I was able to see tonight, notably Michelle Berg as Beth, Alex Jones as Mike, and Alan Kennedy as Baylor. The playwright's poetic language was reserved (at this point, anyway) especially for brain-damaged Beth, and Berg delved into the depths of memory and consciousness to bring Beth's turmoil and frustration to the surface. Mike's frustrated efforts to help Beth recover from her physical and mental ordeal felt painfully genuine. The performances of Kennedy & Marsha Holt (as Jake's mother Lorraine) illustrated how their characters' ingrained sexual stereotypes and need to control others aided and abetted the dysfunction of the unhappy couple. David Boyer's dangerous and deranged portrayal of jealous, controlling Jake left me on edge, wondering how he would react from moment to moment. At the point where we unfortuately left off, there were suggestions of the backgrounds of the remaining characters, and foreshadowing of much more to come. The secret shared between serial-abuser Jake and his straight-talking sister Sally (Julia Hern), Beth's slightly distracted, conciliatory mother Meg (played by Joy Northover), and Jake's well-meaning brother Frankie (Ben Kotovski-Steele), all hinted at mysteries we wanted to see uncovered. I am sorry to say that I'm unlikely to be able to see how it all turns out, but this was nonetheless a very good evening of theatre which I was priveleged to attend.