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From the pen of one of the most prolific and revered living American playwrights comes the Bug Theatre’s new show, A Lie of the Mind. The 1986 drama, by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Sam Shepard, follows two dysfunctional families through the days following a serious act of domestic violence in which...

By Robin Edwards

May 29, 2014

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From the pen of one of the most prolific and revered living American playwrights comes the Bug Theatre’s new show, A Lie of the Mind. The 1986 drama, by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Sam Shepard, follows two dysfunctional families through the days following a serious act of domestic violence in which the husband Jake puts his wife, Beth, in the hospital. Two linked families are left to deal with each other and the aftermath in the lyrical, poetic play.

“I’ve enjoyed his work forever, because he writes about real people in a rather surreal way,” says director Verl Hite of Shepard. “Though the premise is a rather heavy-duty topic, it’s a very funny piece. It’s about people and their need to be loved and love each other.” Though this isn’t one of Shepard’s best-known works, Hite says it’s one of his best. “This is one of those shows — like all the great ones — where there’s something for everybody. The people that I would love to come see the show are those people that don’t know Sam Shepard. I would like to turn them on to this grand and glorious American playwright.”

A Lie of the Mind, which contains partial nudity and is intended for mature audiences, runs today through June 1 at the Bug, 3654 Navajo Street. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with two Sunday performances (May 18 and 25 at 6:30 p.m.) and a special pay-what-you-can show on Monday, May 26, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, $18 to $20, are available online at bugtheatre.org.
Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sun., May 18, 6:30 p.m.; Sun., May 25, 6:30 p.m. Starts: May 2. Continues through June 1, 2014

Robin Edwards

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