Written by Cuban-American author Maria Irene Fornes, Mud was first produced on the stage in 1983. Described by its author as "a play in 17 scenes," Mud tells the story of a girl named Mae who lives in a house with a man named Lloyd. Mae is in her mid-twenties and is determined to become successful despite her lack of education and her inability to read. When Lloyd falls ill one day, Mae races to help find a diagnosis for him.
To that end, against their better judgements, Mae and Lloyd invite Henry, who becomes a menace, into their home. As Mae struggles to find a diagnosis for the ailing Lloyd, the three start fighting with each other. Because of this, Mae finds that she has been stuck in a toxic cycle created by the men in her life that she can only escape (and gain success along the way because of it) by leaving their home once and for all.
Although not widely known and not often produced, Mud is considered a modern classic. In a 1994 review of the play, the LA Times wrote that "The play is a powerful statement about a young woman’s doomed attempt to make a better life for herself, to forge something out of nothing."
