by Beth Conahan
a&e editor
The Red Cloud opened its doors once again to a play that is beyond the norm. “Lucia Mad,” by Don Nigro, is nothing short of hilarious and tragic in its portrayal of Lucia Joyce, the daughter of the famous author James Joyce.
Nigro based this play on the true life of this young woman who is insane with love and deteriorating at the hands of schizophrenia.
Tara McFalls plays Lucia. Few women have loved a man more than Lucia loved her Sam. Just to fill you in Sam is the novelist and playwright Samuel Beckett. It would be a perfect love affair if only Beckett returned the feeling.
Beckett is played by Jamil Gaines. He has no interest in love, claiming that it doesn’t exist. He is a fan and friend of her father, James Joyce, the famous author of “Ulysses,” played by Chris Swift.
The soap opera of Lucia’s love life is highly entertaining but the real story of Lucia involves her very sanity. McFalls does a great job of portraying a character gradually going “insane.”
It begins a little slow and the language is a little smarter than it needs to be, like an episode of Dawson’s Creek where all the teenagers sound like they have their masters.
All in all, I liked it, though. I thought the story was just funny enough to keep me entertained and had enough substance to make it worth the ticket price.
You can still see “Lucia Mad” in the Red Cloud April 5, 6 and 7 at 8 p.m. The Cast:
Lucia Joyce Tara McFalls
Samuel Beckett Jamil Gaines
James Joyce Chris Swift
Nora Joyce Rachael Sedgwick
Mr. Mc Greevy Clarence Scott
Pimp Matt Holmes
Dr. Jung Christian Baird
Napoleon Kit Dewey
