Hard Truths - 'Lie Of The Mind' Probes Family Myths

HARD TRUTHS

'Lie of the Mind' probes family myths

By WHITLEY SETRAKIAN
NEWS SPECIAL WRETER

Passion, pain, mundane miseries, the tiny — or massive — griefs of everyday: These, coupled with the spoken, unconscious poetry of any John and Jane Doe, come together to form a typical Sam Shepard play.

"A Lie of the Mind," which opens Thursday at the Ann Arbor Civic Theater, is such a play, but, according to director David Hunsberger, there’s a serious difference.

“Shepard doesn’t need to resort to a lot of humor here. This play’s typical of many other Shepard plays, but they have more humor. ‘Lie’ is a little more deep and a little more serious; it’s more to the point and he doesn’t apologize for this with humor,” says Hunsberger.

Indeed, this play is serious, and deep, too; but it also carries with it a spacious elegance peppered with luminous lingual detail that transforms the themes of domestic violence, haunted minds, disease and death into matters both fascinating and, despite multiple chills, ultimately approachable.

“I think it’s as good a play as he’s written,” says Hunsberger, "and not just because it won the New York Drama Critics’ Award, although it did. I think it’s essentially the same theme as most of Shepard’s plays: modern man, somewhat lost. And I think that the women in these plays eventually have to get by or make do. They seem to survive better than the men.”

At the center of the plot are Jake, a violent, abusive frightened man; and his wife Beth, brain-damaged from a particularly horrendous beating. The families of this pair, wedged in numb denial or outright outrage, form the backbone of the play. The title of the play rings through every moment. The whole thing’s really a study in the uses of lies and truth.

“Jake beats up his wife, as he’s done before,” says Hunsberger. “He thinks he’s killed her. His ‘lie’ is that he thought he was a brave man. The ‘lie’ reveals to Jake and Beth, and to everyone in the play, the truth. The truth doesn’t free the people, it just allows Jake to see that things are so very bad, he can’t continue. He’s in kind of a haze the rest of the play.”

Many little scenes comprise this play. Many little scenes make for many little scene changes. To make the blackouts manageable, Hunsberger’s enlisted the aid of onstage musicians; Sally Horvath and Kelly Schmidt supply incidental music.

Not many regional productions, even those of Sam Shepard plays, can boast original theme songs; yet, last summer, when plans for the production were made public, local playwright/songwriter Jay Stielstra (“North Country Opera,” “Tittabawassee Jane”) read the script and decided to write a song about it. His new song, of the same title, will be heard each night of the run. “He’ll perform it a couple of times,” says Hunsberger, “otherwise it’ll be taped.”

A Shepard play directed by veteran director Hunsberger, a new Jay Stielstra song — what other incentive does the typical Ann Arbor theatergoer need? Try this on: The role of Baylor will be played by Ann Arbor News theater and film critic Christopher Potter, in his first theatrical production since he left the boards 15 years ago. Of his casting decision, Hunsberger has this to say: “I really have to respect what he said — that he’d been criticizing people in Ann Arbor for so long, it was time to get back onstage again and see what it’s like. And besides, he gave a really good audition.”

The Ann Arbor Civic Theater presents Sam Shepard's 'A Lie of the Mind,' Thursday through Saturday; and Oct. 5-7 and 12-14. All performances are at 8 p.m. Tickets are $6 (Thursday's tickets are two-for-one) and are available at the door. The AACT is located at 1035 S. Main St. Call 662-7282 for more information.

PREVIEW

Steve Angus plays Jake in the Ann Arbor Civic Theater production of 'A Lie of the Mind,' opening Thursday.