Darkness and Deception in PaliHi’s Fall Production

By MATTHEW MEYER | Reporter | Photos by Monique Smith

Courtesy of PaliHi

“A Lie of the Mind” at Palisades Charter High School opened in a pitch-black theater, with only the sound of two voices cutting through the dark. This opening scene—a frantic call between two brothers, with dim lights slowly rising to reveal their silhouettes—set the tone for the rest of the evening. PaliHi’s fall play was a production defined by its darkness.

“Lie” was created by playwright Sam Shepard and first performed off-Broadway in 1985. It’s a story about abuse and the nature of love, and about the many ways people manage to (even willingly) misperceive the world when faced by its ugliness.

It’s heavy stuff, and no timely jaunt at three acts and nearly three-and-a-half hours. Even more daunting, the marathon drama only employs a cast of eight.

That makes it an ambitious undertaking for any cast of high school students—even the talented actors and actresses of PaliHi’s lauded theater program. But potent performances from the cast (informed, no doubt, by countless hours of rehearsal and character study) lived up to the task, and made “Lie” a fascinating study in madness.

The play picked up directly after a young man named Jake (Sam Korobkin) severely beat his wife Beth (Mikaela Aularoloe). Aularoloe’s portrayal of Beth’s ensuing brain damage, which significantly impaired her memory and speech, was delicate and admirably done. The young actress made Beth’s tragic impairments believable and consistent, documenting the character’s slow arch of recovery through both movement and voice.

Meanwhile, Korobkin mastered his character’s almost schizophrenic pattern of behavior—at one moment menacing, childish in the next, and ultimately resigned to a defeated husk of a man.

The stirring lead roles were complemented by portrayals of each character’s family, who each possessed their own delusions and diversions when coping with the aftermath of Beth’s abuse.

Of particular note was senior Justin Wolman’s portrayal of Beth’s father, Baylor. Through the first two acts, Wolman delivered much-needed laughs in a perfect deadpan drawl. Baylor’s early quips made him appear to be the only character on stage with his head on straight—an effect that made Wolman’s psychological unraveling of the character even more compelling in the third act.

Throughout the production, Director Cheri Smith used literal light and darkness on stage to tremendous effect, from utter darkness in the play’s opening moments to a brilliant red bathing half the stage to simulate a house fire in the story’s conclusion.

While Shepard’s winding script may have overstayed its welcome a bit for the casual viewer, theater-lovers and those willing to probe the human psyche left the performance impressed. “Lie” was a testament to the stamina and skill of the production’s small cast, an experience that will surely guide their approach to other roles for years to come.