Crazy Town

A Lie of the Mind

In 1985 when Sam Shepard’s drama was first staged Off-Broadway, audiences saw it as part of the American Mythology. It was considered the closing chapter of the playwright’s “Family Saga,” which includes CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS, BURIED CHILD, TRUE WEST and FOOL FOR LOVE. These intriguing, shorter and unarguably kinky plays by Sam Shepard are still being produced many years later, because they still have something to say to contemporary audiences. But A LIE OF THE MIND, which runs short of three hours, now feels simply like a lengthy journey to Crazy Town.

The story, for those not familiar with this play, is—yes—about a family. Actually, it’s about two families, linked together through marriage. As the play opens, Jake is on a pay phone screaming at his younger brother, Frankie. He’s telling Frankie that he thinks he’s killed his wife, Beth, who he’s beaten once again because of his insane jealousy. Jake convinces his younger brother to drive to Beth’s home to see if she has survived. Again. 

When we see Beth in the following scene, we feel a bit relieved that she’s survived the brutal spousal abuse. However, Beth has been so severely beaten that she’s being hospitalized with brain damage. Thankfully, her brother Mike is helping her on the road to recovery. Eventually Beth’s able to return to their family home in rural Montana to fully recover. There her deerstalking dad, Baylor, and her depressed and repressed mother, Meg, welcome her, with Mike’s continued assistance. But when Frankie shows up in Montana, Baylor shoots him in the leg, excusing his violent action because, you know, it’s deer hunting season, and the accident is really his own fault for not wearing orange. Only Beth, who’s still learning how to talk again, cares for Frankie and his wellbeing.

Meanwhile, back in Southern California, Jake is being babied and cared for by his family, namely Lorraine and Sally, his mother and sister. Clearly, Jake is in desperate need of psychiatric treatment, at the very least for anger management. Jake’s mother coddles him, hand feeding him soup while Jake recovers in the bed of his boyhood room. We eventually begin to understand how Jake became the way he is, especially as we spend more time with Lorraine and Sally and hear the family history unfold. But that’s just the beginning!

Shepard’s play about violent and dysfunctional families is frustrating because it wanders all over the place. Repetitive ideas and plot points wear on the audience’s patience. The only message we can glean from this saga of brutality and screaming fits of rage is that the previous generation is responsible for each character’s emotional disturbances. The play is simply filled with too much that goes on far too long. It’s as if a Stephen King novel, like Misery, melded with a play by Tennessee Williams.

First of all, I admire Director Azar Kazemi’s in-your-face staging and the development she’s achieved with each character. And second, the Director’s approach to Sam Shepard’s play is particularly unique. As a first-generation Persian-American theatre artist, Ms. Kazemi has cast Beth and her family as immigrants. Besides mirroring her own experience growing up in rural Idaho, the Director felt that seeing Beth’s family as Iranian-Americans would reinforce the playwright’s criticism of the American Dream.

The entire cast is superb. Under Ms. Kazemi’s taut direction, they mine this script for all its worth. The company is comprised of some brilliantly talented and experienced actors, many making their Raven Theatre debut. They include Gloria Imseih Petrelli as Beth (MOSQUE4MOSQUE with About Face), John Drea who portrays Frankie (LITTLE BEAR RIDGE ROAD at Steppenwolf), Rom Barkhordar as Baylor (THE BAND’S VISIT at Writers Theatre), Meighan Gerachis playing Lorraine (POTUS at Steppenwolf), Ian Maryfield in the role of Jake (THE LORD OF THE RINGS MUSICAL at Chicago Shakespeare), Jocelyn Maher as Sally (CAT’S CRADLE with Lifeline Theatre), Arash Fakhrabadi portraying Mike (RUST at the Goodman) and Joan Nahid in the role of Meg (MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN with Trapdoor Theater).

But a gifted director can only do so much with her talented cast when trying to make sense of a play that, in my opinion, doesn’t speak to today’s theatergoers. Because Sam Shepard wrote it, the play may be considered a classic to some. But the story is really cringe-worthy, with its focus on so much physical and emotional abuse. The play is too loud, goes on too long and is far too outmoded for today’s audiences. Go see this production for its terrific cast of actors and its smart direction, if you can look past a script that feels like a one-way trip to Crazy Town. It’s a story that’s simply out-of-touch for contemporary audiences. 

Somewhat Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented February 13-March 22 by Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St., Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling 773-338-2177 or by going to www.raventheatre.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.