How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
"A Lie of the Mind" is Sam Shepard's most acclaimed work, and it's easy to see why. From the painfully realistic characters to the primal story, it hits the audience hard and offers no way out.
Film and stage actor Ethan Hawke has taken the reins as director on the first major New York revival of the play since its premiere in 1985. Hawke's Hollywood experience shows. Everything from the perfect pulsing mood music to the actors involved is cinematic in the best possible way.
The story begins with the unbalanced Jake (Alessandro Nivola), who believes he killed his wife Beth (Marin Ireland) in a fit of blind rage. He retreats to his childhood Californian home with his coddling, off-kilter mother Lorraine (Karen Young), while his determined brother Frank (Josh Hamilton) tries to find Beth and discover what really happened.
The eight-member ensemble cast packs quite a punch. It consists of seasoned film and theater pros such as Keith Carradine and Laurie Metcalf as Beth's parents, Baylor and Meg, and character actor Frank Whaley as Beth's perpetually irritated brother Mike — who is out for revenge on Beth's behalf.
Unusually for Shepard, who has called the play "a love ballad," the women are written with immense complexity, and it's fascinating to watch them struggle alongside the men.
Ireland is phenomenal as brain-damaged Beth, who has trouble formulating words and thoughts. She remains shockingly loyal to Jake, her husband, even though he beat her close to death. Her delusion is just one of many.
All of this familial strife and devastating disturbance — everyday domesticity on an urgent, magnified scale — is set against a lovely mise-en-scene. The set, designed by Derek McLane, is astonishing in its unbelievable clutter. Chairs and sofas hang from the ceiling, which is entirely covered. Shelby and Latham Gaines have created original, dreamy country music that accompanies scenic transitions and plays in the background.
Everything coalesces in a compelling and perceptive production. Gritty realism is the play's main mode and violence is its prevailing subject, but both are eclipsed by its imagery and poetry.
"A Lie of the Mind" is playing at The Acorn Theater at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd St.) through March 20. Tickets ($61.25) can be bought at ticketcentral.com or by calling 212.279.4200.
