Review: Mud
Alliance Theatre
by Jeff Nelson
Mud, a social drama that revolves around one woman’s struggle to overcome the obstacles of her poor, rural environment, is exciting theatre, and one of the best productions going these days. The bitter story of one woman’s struggle for knowledge, indeed, her struggle to be human, is told with spare eloquence by a skillful cast and intelligent director, and is the kind of good, solid work that the Alliance Theatre continues to serve up as its stock-in-trade.
Set in an unspecified backwoods location, imaginatively evoked by Matthew C. Jacobs’ restrained but spectacular set, Mud tells the story of Mae (Laura Leigh Hughes), whose attempt to educate herself is severely hampered by the pressing demands placed on her by Lloyd (Scott Allan Campbell), the half-wit dependent in her care. Worried by a consuming medical condition (it seems he has contracted a venereal disease from an animal), Lloyd stops abusing Mae long enough to seek her help. Mae, in turn, looks to Henry (Elkanah J. Burns), an older man whose chief qualification is that he is able to read (but not entirely comprehend) the medical pamphlets Lloyd receives from a doctor. From this simple beginning is spun a tale of poverty, despair, and, ultimately, tragedy, as these three characters slowly become mired in the “mud” of their ignorance.
What is exciting about this production is the incredible amount of care that has been brought to each detail. Every gesture, every look, feels as though hours of thoughtful work is behind it. For all its realism, this production does not hesitate to also be theatrical. For example, a series of frozen tableaux end each scene, slowing down the pace of the play, but creating a dreamy, unreal effect, as if we are looking leisurely through the pages of an old photo album. These tableaux also inform, and often advance the plot or supply a subtext. This production knows itself, and has the confidence to take stylistic risks.
The acting is basic, and natural, like a sack of flour or an unfinished piece of pine, and it is this simplicity that fascinates. In this production, less is definitely more. Laura Leigh Hughes is as fresh as rain, and gives a remarkably uncomplicated performance. Time and again she draws the audience into the intimate regions of her mind. In one scene, she painstakingly reads about starfish from a child’s book, then gazes at the pictures in wonder. It is a beautiful scene, beautifully played. As a model of an “educated” man, Elkanah J. Burns is a steady force, and his subtle performance keeps the drama moving evenly toward its powerful conclusion. It is Scott Allan Campbell, however, who gets to really chew the scenery, and his portrayal of the imbecile Lloyd is by turns oddly funny and touchingly pathetic.
Playwright Maria Irene Fornes writes, “The play is about the mind. The quest for knowledge. Knowledge that is instinctive. Real, pure knowledge. Mae experiences this knowledge—this thirst for the intangible.” In Mud, Director L. Zane and this talented cast have taken the intangible and placed it before an audience. It is there to be seen, to be felt, and to awaken the mind. This is theatre at its stimulating best. ♦