Counter Culture Coffee sent me two free bags of their Sanctuary brand of shade-grown coffee with its new package design. I've been a happy customer for some time now. Maybe they thought I would give them a link. It worked.

posted: 12:22:04 AM  

A Lie of the Mind, by Sam Shepard, directed by Eric Lucas, Keegan Theatre, Arlington, Virginia

Sam Shepard continues to refine and rework his material into the play he's been writing all his life. Some may feel that he's fallen into self-parody, but I think the current play is worthy, if not his strongest. I admit that a lot of Shepard's themes are in play here—the absent father in the desolate West, dual brothers and role reversals, family secrets and sexual taboos, art vs. reality, and even the salvation of home cooking—and hence we're in for a long evening. The closing scenes depend on multiple focus, and in the present production, feel rather draggy. America's Cowboy also is guilty of recycling some of his dialogue ("You want a medal or something?").

Keegan's production, in repertory with Buried Child, employs a spartan production design, with black curtains and platforms to define the stage left and right playing areas. I suspect that lighting designer Dan Martin couldn't sharply define all the areas that he would have liked.

Mark Rhea as Jake and Chris Stezin as Frankie show good chemistry as brothers. Susan Grevengoed masters the aphasia that afflicts brain-damaged Beth. Peggy McGrath as Meg needs to learn that playing a character who is a little vague at times is not the same as a vague characterization. Linda High has some good extremes as Lorraine.

posted: 12:15:54 AM