Southwestern presents ‘A Lie of the Mind’

The Southwestern Oregon Community College Theater Department is bringing to the stage the raw, savage mythology of the American west as dramatized in Sam Shepard’s “A Lie of the Mind,” playing from Feb. 29 through March 8 in the Hales Center for the Performing Arts on the Coos Bay campus.

Curtain is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays throughout the run of the performance, with a 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, March 2. General admission is $8, and seniors get in for $6. Students receive complimentary admission. The play contains imagery and language that may offend. The production is not suitable for children.

“A Lie of the Mind” is the hallucinogenic story of two rural families as the marriage that joins them is torn apart by a series of violent, yet comically mistimed, events. The tale is punctuated throughout by errant behavior – deep aphasia, dementia, domestic abuse and gunplay. It is a tribute to Shepard’s skills as a playwright that what should be a forbiddingly bleak drama actually is quite comic; every poignant moment is offset with hilarity. Like many of Shepard’s works, “A Lie of the Mind” also functions as American allegories – cowboys, Hollywood, war heroes, patriotism and the hunter-gatherer mentality – all are examined with Shepard’s peculiar blend of humor and irony. Ultimately the play affirms – if rather perversely – the power of family in shaping lives. The landmark 1986 production, directed by the playwright, won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award and the Drama Desk Award. The New York Times praised the production as “… the unmistakable expression of a major writer nearing the height of his powers.”

The Southwestern production features Nathan Andreasen, Alecia Gatlin, Levi Goodman, Amy Katrina, Sean Kelly, Mimi Maddess, Annie McAleer and Robert Marchant. It is directed and designed by Robert Clingan, whose previous work includes “Proof,” “Nickel and Dimed,” “Hamlet” and “Waiting for Godot.” These shows have established the reputation of the Southwestern Theater Department for quality productions, staged with imagination and intense theatricality.

For more information, those interested can go online to http://www.socc.edu/dept/theatre, or call 888-1578.

Press Release Date: February 13, 2008