Posted by Flashbulb Member, Kyle Leibovitch!

A Lie of the Mind

Thoughts from the Director

I've often heard that Sam Shepard's works to revolve around myths. The Western Myth. What the hell does that even mean? Sam would say, a lie, or an ancient formula that is expressed as a means of handing down a very specific knowledge. But what are we lying about? What specific "knowledge" are we handing down?

I was struck while reading an interview with Sam Shepard in American Theater Reader when asked what myths mean to him:

   

The thing that's powerful about a myth is that it's the communication of emotions, at the same time ancient and for all time…They'll always be true. Hopefully, in writing a play, you can snare emotions that aren't just personalemotions, not just catharsis, not just psychological emotions that you're getting off your chest, but emotions and feelings that are connected with everybody…you start with something personal and see how it follows out and opens to something that's much bigger. (Rhythm and Truths, Amy Lippman, April 1984.)

I love that. Emotions and feelings that are connected with everybody. Love. Hate. But my mind keeps coming back to lies.

Have you ever told a lie because the truth was too hard to bare? To others? To yourself? I know I have. Funny thing about a lie, eventually the truth comes to light. Because as hard as the truth is to bare, so is the lie. Then why tell the lie? Why admit the truth? Why don't we just deny the world around us? Most of us do to some extent.

As we've worked on A Lie of the Mind I find myself constantly searching for answers. As I hear every character tell their story, I don't know what's the truth. I don't know what's a lie. I don't know who's come to terms with their lies. I don't know who's creating new lies to cope with the present. I don't know who's denying the world around them. Where's the ending?! Where's the resolution?!

Sam Shepard says, "a resolution isn't an ending; it's a strangulation." If you want answers, I don't know what to tell you. I don't have answers for the play, and I certainly don't have answers for this life. But then again, I'm not interested in theater that provides the answer. I'm interested in theater that asks the question.