While Shakespeare's ‘Hamlet' may have said: “The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king”, he was not the only one to know that a production can have so powerful an effect on an audience that the memories are indelible.

And so it was with aspiring actor Robbie Godfrey who saw Sam Shepard's dark comedy, ‘A Lie of the Mind', in London many years ago and was so affected by it that it has become his choice to direct for the Bermuda Musical & Dramatic Society at Daylesford Theatre from June 23-28.

“Each of the characters reminded me of at least two people I knew, and a lot of what went on reminded me of experiences I had had within my own family, so the play stuck with me,” he says.

“Everybody I spoke to who came away from that production had had a different experience and came to different conclusions, which I think was because it provoked such personal associations and remembrances.”

An admirer of Shepard's writing, Mr. Godfrey says what he particularly likes about this play is its subtlety, and the way in which the playwright has been able to bring to life “the kinds of relationships we have experienced all through our lives - how the characters relate to one another”.

“Shepard's plays all tend to be of a similar genre,” Mr. Godfrey says. “He likes to take a look at the way people get through life, even though there can be so much wrong with them. ‘A Lie of the Mind' is about dysfunctional families.”

The plot involves a man in California who thinks he may have killed his wife after beating her but isn't sure, so he goes to hide at his mother's home, also in California. She is so pleased to have him back that she decides she'll never let him leave. Meanwhile, a brother is searching for the truth about the wife's fate, and goes to Montana. Jealousy destroys the relationship between the mother and another child, a daughter, and creates one set of tensions in California. Meanwhile, in the Montana household, a hunting accident between relatives creates tensions there. The prospect of a visit from someone bent on revenge adds more tension as, with time running out, steps are taken to prevent a deadly showdown between some of the characters.

If the dysfunctional theme seems unattractive to some theatregoers, Mr. Godfrey is unrepentant because he feels it is important for audiences to experience a variety of plays.

“One thing I find disappointing is, people will say, ‘Why do you want to do that play?' and I say, ‘Because it's drama'. Then the next thing they say is: ‘Why couldn't you have chosen something a bit lighthearted?' and my contention is that we always do comedy, and people will always come to see it on a whim, but for those who really enjoy drama we need to present that as well.”

Lest “drama” seem onerous, Mr. Godfrey assures that the script of ‘A Lie in the Mind' also includes “fabulous, ironic humour” which, unlike the London production of long ago, he aims to bring out.

“The audience will quickly come to realise that the characters portrayed are all of a lower educational level and not quite as worldly wise as some of us, and the humour lies in their reactions to certain events. I rather expect the audience will want to laugh but will probably find themselves immediately stifling their laughter because they might feel guilty about belittling someone less fortunate.”

Although the play marks Mr. Godfrey's directorial debut, his fascination with theatre, films and acting goes back to his childhood, yet throughout his formative years, because he believed that adults always knew what was best for youngsters, it was his mission to be a good student. Thus, when he did get around to expressing a desire to become an actor, parents and teachers said, “Don't be ridiculous, you will never make a living being an actor. You are so much more academic, and you should go into ....” and reel off a long list of suitable career possibilities.

“I swallowed it all thinking ‘That's what's meant to be',” the aspiring actor says. “The next thing was a desire to be an architect, but I ended up becoming an architectural engineer, and I found it very tough because I think I am more inherently artistic than scientific and logical.”

Nevertheless, having successfully gained his university degree, Mr. Godfrey returned home six years ago to practice his profession. However, he could never overcome his inner desire to become an actor despite his best efforts to stifle it - or memories of all the dissenting voices he heard growing up.

So he became involved in local productions with both the BMDS and the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, and to such an extent that he was in five shows a year, some of them back to back. It then became a case of ‘Now or Never'. Weighing up the pros and cons of giving up the financial stability of a good profession which he enjoyed, and a comfortable lifestyle in Bermuda, against an unknown future as an actor, Mr. Godfrey decided he would first test the waters to see if acting was what he truly wanted to do. So he enrolled in a summer course at Britain's prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, which he knew would give him an honest answer.

“I was greatly encouraged to pursue acting,” Mr. Godfrey says of the outcome. So, based on professional advice given to him on one-year basic training courses, he applied to several institutions and was rejected.

“That was hard knock number one,” he says. “All sorts of thoughts go through your mind - is this telling me something? But then acting is a world of hard knocks and rejection, so if I gave up after that, then it didn't say much about my strength of character and conviction.”

Meanwhile, he gained more experience in productions directed by visiting professionals Jane McCulloch and Jenny Arnold, and also became involved as director of photography in the making of a 15-minute film, ‘Baby...Wait', written by Julia Pitt and directed by Tom Coash, now in its final stages of editing.

Thus freed up to reinvestigate acting courses, this time around Mr. Godfrey adopted a somewhat different approach. He consulted professional actors and directors in England, who helped him to rehearse and polish his audition pieces, and the formula worked like magic.

Today, he has been accepted by the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and leaves in September for a year's training, following which he plans to stay in the UK, at least initially.

“Sadly Bermuda will become a place to visit, but who knows where the future will lead,” he says. Meanwhile, Mr. Godfrey is enjoying his first directing assignment.

“One of the fun things is being able to put your signature on the play. I felt it was the one thing I had to do before I left, and I thought Sam Shepard provided the perfect vehicle for me to be able to really display in the best possible light whatever talents I have for directing,” he says .

“It is tremendously exciting when you see things progressing and developing, but equally it is very stressful trying to coordinate things, which is why you have to have an exceptionally cohesive team in order to ensure that when the pressure is on that they will be able to pull each other through and achieve. I have a fabulous team.”

The director is also pleased with the way the cast (Connie Dey, Cottie Outerbridge, Jane Lee, Paul Woolgar, Jon Leg?re, and Shelley McKinnon-Burgess) have tackled their roles.

“It has been a real challenge for them, but they will succeed and come out on the other side, hopefully having learned a lot about themselves which they would otherwise not have done. It is always a learning experience. For me as a director it is all about seeing the actors getting so much out of doing the play.” he says.

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