TRUE ZEST IN TRUE WEST
As my sixtieth year on earth winds down, I’d like to believe those years have seasoned me with a strong degree of wisdom, patience, and finesse. As I said, I’d like to believe that, but there are two people who can reduce me to a furious, outrageous adolescent in a matter of minutes: my father and my brother. Such is the nature of family dynamics, even as adults. Sam Shepard’s True West doesn’t just play in that arena; it revels in it on a grand scale, taking it to extremes.
David McBean & Jason Maddy
Austin (David McBean) is sitting pretty. The thirty-something screenwriter has the ear of Hollywood Producer Saul Kimmel (Dave Rivas). Austin has gotten through numerous meetings with Saul, who seems quite interested in meeting him to discuss his emerging screenplay, a love story. To aid in that, Austin escapes to his mom’s currently-empty desert house (as she travels to Alaska) so he can write and have the big meet-up with Saul there. Unexpectedly, though, Austin’s brother Lee (Jason Maddy) decides to make use of the empty house at the same time. To say that Austin would rather not have Lee there would be to say that Poland would rather Germany hadn’t invaded them. These two can’t stand each other, and Lee doesn’t have the good sense or maturity to just co-exist to get through this time; he pushes every button Austin has and Austin’s every attempt to pacify Lee escalates into the next incident. Austin bribes Lee to leave for just a few hours, not to return till 6pm, so that he can strike the final deal with Saul. But when the meeting runs long and Lee returns promptly at 6pm, the sparks start to fly with Saul in the crossfire.
David McBean & Jason Maddy
It’s no wonder that actors love to work from this piece in classes and at auditions because it gives such opportunity for bold acting. Roustabouts’ Artistic Director and director of this production Phil Johnson keenly knows this and, despite many in town who would leap to play one of the brothers, he has made excellent choices. The two men comprise the vast majority of the stage time and, as powerful as the script is, this is a show that’s deeply about tight direction, precise line and blocking timing, and great role interpretation.
David McBean & Jason Maddy
Let’s start with David McBean as the uptight, successful Austin. To be honest, he’s not the first person I would have thought of for the role, but the minute I knew he was cast, I had to see what he would do with the role and the result is a pleasure to watch. McBean is a chameleon, perhaps best proven in his one-man Fully Committed at Moxie Theatre years back, where he played over forty distinct characters by evening’s end. David brings a fun, persnickety quality to Austin, reminiscent of Tony Randall’s Felix Unger on The Odd Couple, but with more anguish and inner burn than a Felix, such that we spend the whole two hours wondering what other sides of Austin we’ll see.
David McBean, Jason Maddy & Vicky Dawson
Countering David, Jason is brutally raw as Lee. Having mostly seen Mr. Maddy in more controlled roles, like Juan Peron in Evita, it was almost overwhelming to be so physically close to his commitment to fury on Diversionary’s stage. He, too, goes through a journey of many sides, but it’s clear that rage is Lee’s default. Austin tightrope walks about him, varying in his own response to it all, depending on the moment and how much alcohol he has consumed.
The play is not a comfortable one. I let out a deep exhale at intermission after holding such tension through Act I. One audience member told me at intermission that he was leaving, not wanting to face more of such drastic conflict that felt triggering to him. But other patrons returned eagerly to see where the dynamic would lead, getting their payoff for coming back when an unexpected twist comes quickly thereafter.
David McBean, Jason Maddy & Dave Rivas
As for the writing itself, Act I is loaded with realism, while Act II becomes surreal. Though we’re in for the ride with them, the circumstance feel more outlandish, as if David Lynch might have had a hand in writing Act II. The denouement is thrilling, but the final moment, with no blame to Johnson’s direction because it’s as Shepard intended, left me wishing for something more solid in the end. But perhaps this is intentional from Shepard, as fraternal struggles rarely find a comfortable ending; they endure through all our life paths and growth elsewhere, always being the mirror to who we once were and often try to leave behind.
photos by Daren Scott
True West
The Roustabouts Theatre Co.
Diversionary Theatre, 4545 Park Boulevard in University Heights
Thurs & Fri at 7:30; Sat at 2 & 7:30; Sun at 2
ends on April 13, 2025
for tickets, call 619.728.7820 or visit Roustabouts
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I have seen True West when New Village Arts and Cygnet Theatre did it. But by far THE BEST production I saw of this was at Sledgehammer Theatre in 1999, where Phil Johnson–the director of this production–played Saul.
Wow–good memory!!! That was a great production.