Ethan Hawke wisely stages ‘A Lie of the Mind’

Tight ensemble acting distinguishes The New Group revival of Sam Shepard's drama

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

Ever see a play by Sam Shepard? If not, there's no better choice right now than his "A Lie of the Mind," which is getting a red-hot revival by The New Group.

A neat thing about this engrossing drama is that its wonderfully twisted story packs the essentials of several Shepard classics: Bad-boy brothers. Screwy parents. Lovers unable to live with or without each other. All sorts of insane family doings, too, spiked with symbolic reflections about the American Dream and the demise of the lonesome West.

Check out this omnibus work and you'll never need to see a Shepard play again.

The original 1985 show was a stunner featuring Harvey Keitel, Geraldine Page and Amanda Plummer. Still, the company fielded so wisely and well here by director Ethan Hawke is mighty fine. If by any luck the already sold-out production that opened Thursday at the Acorn space in Theatre Row extends a few weeks, nab your tickets and settle back for three hours of wicked fun.

You see, for all of the genuine emotion generated by the drama and its able players, there's a madhouse sense of dark humor to Shepard's increasingly surreal saga of dysfunctional clans linked by a calamitous marriage. As the play opens, the ever-raging Jake (Alessandro Nivolo) confesses to his upright brother Frankie (Josh Hamilton) how he jealously has beaten to death his wife Beth (Marin Ireland). Actually, Beth is recovering from brain damage at her family's remote Montana ranch.

Suffering a breakdown, Jake is sheltered by his mean-tempered mom (Karen Young) and skeptical sister (Maggie Siff). Seeking to atone for Jake's actions, Frankie is accidentally shot by Beth's testy dad (Keith Carradine) and agitates helplessly on the living room couch where he is neglectfully attended by Beth's ditsy mother (Laurie Metcalf) and furious brother (Frank Whaley).

With everyone snowed in by a blizzard, Jake lights off for Montana to track down Beth even as her scarred sensibilities focus upon Frankie, whom she deduces to be a sweet variation on her husband.

So, yes, Shepard packs lots of story - perhaps too much: the last third drags a bit — but led by Ireland's touching Beth, the fiery acting of Hawke's tightly-meshed ensemble is great to observe. The director and his designers enhance the performances with effective visuals, especially by Derek McLane's setting that crams all sorts of dusty furniture everywhere possible to suggest the clutter of old family history inside one's mind. Live music composed and performed by a duo known as Gaines lends a nicely eerie quality.

"A Lie of the Mind" continues through March 20 at Theatre Row, 410 W. 42nd St., New York. Call (212) 279-4200 or visit www.ticketcentral.com.