It’s hard to imagine anyone being comfortable watching a Sam Shepherd play. His onstage world is a bleak one, no matter the setting. But of course that’s the way the world is; just because it’s a household with a paid-off mortgage and nice clothing doesn’t mean the occupants are happy, or even functional. True West takes place in a far ‘burb of Los Angeles, far from surfboards and closer to the desert. It’s dry there, emotionally dry, raw and scraping and unlubricated.
Nevertheless, True West, like all Shepherd plays, is fascinating, quickly drawing the viewer in and then sliding into seat-squirming uncomfortableness. Soon comes an evolving into what’s happening here?, the balance shifting to leave everyone, both the characters and the audience, unsettled.
William Humphrey is Austin, whom we meet sitting at a kitchen table with a typewriter. He’s a writer trying to sell a screenplay, and it’s his mom’s house – she’s off on a trip to Alaska and offered it to him so he could work near the producer who’s interested. His older brother Lee, played by Isaiah Di Lorenzo, is on hand as well. They couldn’t be more different. Lee’s a drifter, angry and confrontational and doing all he can to disrupt Austin’s work. He’s also a superb manipulator, as we discover when Austin’s producer (William Roth) shows up as planned to work the screenplay deal out and Lee returns quasi-unexpectedly from some errands.
The tension throughout the play is broken, sometimes frequently, with Shepherd’s dark humor – it’s surprising how much laughter is heard during the performances. That, too, contributes to the balance of the experience, the back and forth between Austin and Lee, and the third factor created by the arrival of the producer. It’s like a pinball machine.
The vibes between Humphrey and Di Lorenzo are powerful – the relationship dance is beautifully drawn. Humphrey’s careful, hopeful Austin, such a contrast to the seemingly half-crazy Lee of Di Lorenzo, begins to change, or, more likely, revert. Di Lorenzo shows us not just the menace of Lee but exhibits a real gift for physical comedy made even more vivid by the circumstances of the story.
This is William Whitaker’s first time directing at St. Louis Actors’ Studio and he’s done a fine job, including part of the sound design, a credit shared with Jeff Roberts. Patrick Huber’s set, a turquoise kitchen that looks only slightly newer than Austin’s manual typewriter – and which may have to be replaced for each show, all things considered – is right in the groove for things.
A carefully created rendition of an excellent play.
True West
through April 28
St. Louis Actors’ Studio
Gaslight Theater
360 N. Boyle
314-458-2978
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