A Lie of the Mind

Thu, 7 July 2011, 08:11 am

‘A Lie of the Mind’ was written by Sam Shepard lll at the age of forty, and the play was first produced a couple of years later off-Broadway in December 1985. Now it is presented by the Blak Yak Theatre at the Old Mill Theatre Mends Street, South Perth until the 9^th July. The two and three quarter hour (including two fifteen minute intervals) performances start at 8.00 pm.

          We listen in to the conversation between two brothers. Jake (David Boyer) in a desperate panic, has called home to tell his brother, Frankie (Ben Kotovski-Steele), that he as just beaten his wife, Beth (Michelle Berg) to a pulp and killed her. Frankie collects Jake and brings him home; a home that is run by a warped and domineering, widowed mother, Lorraine (Marsha Holt) who looks upon Jake as her favourite little ten-year-old and so still mollycoddles him.
         Unknown to Jake his wife survived the beating, and is now in hospital 500 miles away in Montana. Beth’s brother, Mike (Alex Jones) visits her infirmary ward only to find that she has regressed to the mentality of a young child, speaking in broken confused sentences.
         Jake seems distraught at what he has done and spends all day in bed. He is visited by his sister, Sally (Julia Hern), with whom he shares a secret. She find her brother a total wreck and completely paranoid.
         Back in Montana, Beth’s parents – her bullying, useless father, Baylor (Alan Kennedy) and her nervous, unloved mother, Meg (Joy Northover), who is definitely a victim of country village inbreeding - aren’t too sure whether to go into the ward and see their daughter, or just go for a coffee!
         Will there be reconciliation? Is there any love within these two dysfunctional families?

It seems that today, most theatregoers just want chewing gum for the mind. Something ‘nice’ that doesn’t take too much brainpower and certainly not unpleasant, so after a tiring day I too hesitated as to whether to see this play or just watch another episode of ‘QI’. Yes this drama is serious, tragic, and one of the longest plays that I have seen in some time, but I am so glad that I did not miss it.

Matt Longman’s direction is brilliant and the time just flew past. Not for one second did my mind wander. The performances were all well above average, with each beautifully perceived character getting their own few minutes on the stage. I was totally engrossed. The pulsating dialogue was mixed with some hilarious black humour throughout.

Even though everyone had the same, constant American accent, perfect pace and delivery, I must give a special mention to Shell Berg and David Bowyer for making the play come alive and turning the evening in the theatre into something special.

A genuine, blunt look at two families’ lives and their loves, by a team of dazzling theatre professionals. Terrific is an understatement.

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Gordon the OptomThu, 7 July 2011, 08:11 am

A genuine, blunt look at two families’ lives and their loves, by a team of dazzling theatre professionals. Terrific is an understatement.

Daniel KershawThu, 7 July 2011, 11:48 am

I also really enjoyed Alex

I also really enjoyed Alex Jones's performance.

SlothwanSat, 9 July 2011, 03:10 pm

last show tonight. Heaps of

last show tonight. Heaps of tickets at the door. Don't miss it.

TylerJSat, 9 July 2011, 05:05 pm

With merely hours left

With merely hours left before the lights go up and the closing performance of A Lie of the Mind commences, I urge those of you with a free night to hurry down to Old Mill Theatre and catch this fantastic piece of theatre. In fact, I even urge those of you with plans to cancel them and do the same! Extremely dark and violent, with a rather bleak world view, the play’s subject matter is certainly not for all tastes; however, the tight direction and passionate performances are well worth the ticket price, and it’s always refreshing to see something different being presented. Director Matt Longman keeps the action moving swiftly throughout the play’s three acts, and the audience’s attention focussed squarely on the characters and their increasingly dysfunctional relationships with one another. With two stories unfolding throughout the evening on opposite sides of the stage, blocking the show must have been quite challenging, but at least from my perspective on the Stage Right side of the auditorium visibility was good and each scene was effectively presented. The performances were all of a high standard, though at times the tendency to shout during emotional scenes risked growing tiresome (considering the large amount of ‘emotional’ content in the play). I personally enjoyed the effective restraint demonstrated by Julia Hern, in what I believe to be the best performance I have seen her give. Marsha Norman is entertaining and terrifying as unstable matriarch Lorraine, while David Bowyer presents a suitably vicious Jake contrasting Ben Kotovski-Steele’s milder Frankie. In the Montana sections of the play, Joy Northover is beautifully vague as Meg, Alex Jones brims with anger and frustration as Mike, Alan Kennedy takes cantankerous old man to new heights of irritation as Baylor and Shell Berg tackles the difficult character of Beth with admirable conviction. Congratulations to the cast and crew of A LIE OF THE MIND for an excellent evening of daring, thought-provoking theatre. Best wishes for your closing night!

Walter PlingeSun, 10 July 2011, 08:45 am

Thank you very much for the

Thank you very much for the excellent review. It's very much appreciated. We did have a great time last night with an equally appreciative audience who reacted accordingly to the dark humour. I would like to point out however that Marsha Norman wrote 'night Mother (Melville 08) in which I performed. Lorraine is played myself Marsha Holt.

TylerJSun, 10 July 2011, 10:43 pm

Oh, I'm sorry Marsha! I

Oh, I'm sorry Marsha! I remember reading about 'night Mother in your bio and I got mixed up... I even noticed I'd written it wrong before I posted and thought I changed it but I must have been distracted! Excellent performance by the way!

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