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“The play is universal in its dysfunctionality of families,” says Dissanayake. “We all know people like that. It’s just how some families behave. The two families seem to avoid the reality of what’s happened.”

Where Bates’ mainstage productions are usually directed by a member of the theater faculty, Dissanayake directed “A Lie of the Mind” as part of her senior directing thesis. “This is very rare,” says Katalin Vecsey, lecturer in the theater department and vocal director for theater productions.

Dissanayake chose the play in part because of its wit. “Shepard uses a completely brilliant humor to comment on how absurd families can be,” she says. “It’s very dark but absolutely hysterical.”