Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...The show's strength is the potent and courageous ensemble acting, as adroitly and generously directed by Kazemi (it will get yet better too). Its weakness is an intermittent lack of vulnerability and an occasional disinclination to leave all of that behind and pull out individual characters who have figured out that their travails flow from the difficulty of stopping American family life from turning into a Sam Shepard play."
Chicago Sun Times
- Highly Recommended
"...Directed with a sure hand by Azar Kazemi, the cast digs into "A Lie of the Mind" with the force of a dozen jackhammers, as the story of two families stuck together like syncretic parasites hurtles to its stark final moment. "A Lie of the Mind" is also often hilarious, although the humor is darker than a black hole and as cutting as a warehouse full of steak knives."
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...Shepard's play, brilliantly mounted by Raven Theatre under the direction of Azar Kazemi, does indeed overwhelm its audiences with cruelty at times: the physical cruelty of a man unable to comprehend his wife's aspirations and ambitions; the emotional cruelty of a father whose patriarchal dominion is continually undermined by the emotional needs of his family; the existential cruelty of a world that's constantly demanding we believe things we know not to be true. As with many of Shepard's works, delusions are at the heart of A Lie of the Mind-some of them concrete beliefs defining the characters; others as ephemeral and difficult to comprehend as the radios that shift stations during the show's scene changes."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...Sam Shepard is not known for romanticism, though many of his plays are about love. His work is unsparingly dark and he is a master at digging up shadows and generational trauma. Love in his work is never healthy. In years to come I believe scholars will attest to his ability to humanize toxic masculinity. None of these punches are pulled at the current production of Lie of the Mind now on at Raven Theatre."
Around The Town Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Raven Theatre's production, sharply directed by Azar Kazemi, on an interesting set designed by Lauren M. Nichols, allows us to see several different locations, and yet switch from one to another with no lost time. In this production they have made one of the families involved immigrants, thus adding an Immigrant story on top of the already searing critique of the American Dream at the heart of this American Classic."
Chicago Theatre Review
- Somewhat Recommended
"...But a gifted director can only do so much with her talented cast when trying to make sense of a play that, in my opinion, doesn’t speak to today’s theatergoers. Because Sam Shepard wrote it, the play may be considered a classic to some. But the story is really cringe-worthy, with its focus on so much physical and emotional abuse."
Third Coast Review
- Highly Recommended
"...A Lie of the Mind, Sam Shepard’s 1983 play about two families and the tragedy that binds them, is a sizzling 2.5 hours of solid acting, direction and pacing. At Raven Theatre, director Azar Kazemi creates a powerhouse production of a play that deserves more attention as a Shepard masterwork."
NewCity Chicago
- Highly Recommended
"...Sam Shepard's "A Lie of the Mind," playing now at the Raven Theatre, begins in the immediate aftermath of a horrific domestic abuse. Left for dead by her husband, Beth (Gloria Imseih Petrelli) awakes in a hospital bed a shattered shell of who she once was. Meanwhile Jake (Ian Maryfield), the husband, appears more shocked than repentant, reaching out to his brother from a payphone. Both spouses then return to their separate homes to recoup with their family, who seem unable to fully process their plight."
