A Lie of the Mind

Infobox Play
name = A Lie of the Mind


image_size =
caption =
writer = Sam Shepard
characters = Baylor
Jake
Lorraine
Mike
Beth
Frankie
Meg
Sally
setting =
premiere = 5 December 1985
place = Promenade Theater
New York City, New York
orig_lang = English
subject = two families torn apart by tragedy
genre = Drama
iobdb_id = 1434

"A Lie of the Mind" is a play written by Sam Shepard, first staged at the off-Broadway Promenade Theater on 5 December 1985. The play was directed by Shepard himself with stars Harvey Keitel as Jake, Amanda Plummer as Beth, Aidan Quinn as Frankie, Geraldine Page as Lorraine, and Will Patton as Mike. The music was composed and played by the North Carolina bluegrass group the Red Clay Ramblers.

Plot synopsis

Told in three acts set in the gritty American West, the story alternates between two families after a severe incident of spousal abuse leaves all their lives altered until the final collision at an isolated cabin. The two families, one composed of Baylor, Meg, Beth, and Mike, the other composed of Lorraine, Sally, Frank, and Jake are connected by the marriage of Jake and Beth, whose beating and subsequent hospitalization at the hands of Jake initiates the beginning of the play. Exploring family dysfunction and the nature of love, the play follows Jake as he searches for meaning after Beth, and her family, as they struggle with Beth's brain damage.

Awards and nominations

* 1986 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play
* 1986 New York Drama Critic's Award for Best Play
* 1986 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play

References

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External links

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* [http://pnj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070223/ENTERTAINMENT/702230313/1005 Article in Pensacola News Journal about a Junior College's performance of A Lie of the Mind (includes further plot details)]