Opposites Attract

True West

As the lights come up, we find Austin at work on his screenplay, sitting at the kitchen counter of his mother’s clean and tidy house. Through the windows we can see that we’re in the picturesque foothills of Southern California’s San Gabriel Mountains, not far from Lost Angeles. All is calm and orderly, but that’s about to change. Lee, Austin’s resentful and ill-tempered estranged older brother, unexpectedly drops in. Swaddled in dirty, sweat-stained clothing and badly in need of a shower and haircut, Lee is clearly the polar opposite of well-groomed, preppy and highly-educated Austin. But as they say, “Opposites Attract.” And by the final curtain of this dark comedy, the kitchen has turned into a ragged desert landscape, the two brothers seem to have swapped identities and they’ve both become part of the wild, True West.

TRUE WEST is in keeping with Sam Shepard’s signature unsettling and often violent and disturbing plays. It’s filled with raw, gritty realism, dark humor and psychological intensity. The play focuses on sibling identity and rivalry, as well as what it means to be masculine. It’s also said to be a deconstruction of The American Dream. Often labeled part of his “Family Trilogy,” a series of plays that includes CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS and BURIED CHILD, the play became a finalist for the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The drama had its premier in 1980 at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre. An Off-Broadway production soon opened at New York’s Public Theatre. Then, Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre presented their iconic production that starred Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. Acclaimed as a masterpiece, this production of TRUE WEST transferred to New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre in 1982 and was filmed for the PBS television program, “American Playhouse,” providing a national audience for the play. Now the play is a considered a staple of contemporary theater.

Directed with a firm hand and a restrained ferocity by Jim Corti, Paramount’s gifted Artistic Director, Shepard’s play bursts onto the intimate Copley Theatre stage like an explosion. This play is essentially a punchy power struggle depicted in two hours of agony and ecstasy. What begins as a war of words, escalates into sibling roughhousing, but then quickly turns into physical threats and eventually a violent life-and-death brawl. Mr. Corti employs his considerable skill in bringing this pair of siblings to life. The brothers also represent two very different lifestyles. Austin’s a successful, affluent screenwriter, a suburbanite from Northern California, who’s married with children. Lee is a loner, a nomadic drifter, hankering for any kind of human communication. While making a living via illegal means, he seems to always be angry. Spurred by a desire for each other’s way of life, Corti’s two talented actors engage in a dance of death, during which Lee and Austin seem to magically become one another, before our very eyes.

The cast is led by two sensational, youthful actors.The multitalented Jack Ball, who played the leading role of Elder Cunningham on Broadway in the musical, THE BOOK OF MORMON, portrays Austin. Locally he’ll be fondly remembered as the nebbish horticulturist, Seymour Krelborn in Paramount’s delightful production of LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. He also wowed audiences as Whizzer in the Court and TimeLine Theatre’s recent co-production of FALSETTOS. While the part of Austin is the less flashy of the two roles, Mr. Ball totally inhabits his character every step of the way. The chemistry between Austin and Lee is profound and mesmerizing. Theatergoers should carefully watch Ball’s face and, especially, his body language as he emotionally digests and interprets his brother’s angry raving. Watch the small things he does that make Austin appear anal retentive. Then observe this brilliant actor as he subtly and unexpectedly bcomes more feral. Jack Ball is, in a word, superb.  

 Practically unrecognizable from his previous roles, Ben Page brilliantly and completely creates and inhabits the character of Lee. He recently appeared at the Copley Theatre as Mitch in Paramount’s excellent production of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. He was also seen as Tucker Alsworth in Windy City Playhouse’s immersive production of SOUTHERN GOTHIC. In Sam Shephard’s dark drama, Mr. Page plays a tortured man, a guy who’s the embodiment of the words dread and fear. His tense body language and his darting eyes tells the audience that this man is clearly unstable and definitely not reliable. With good reason, we feel nervous from the moment he arrives and we fear for the safety of his younger brother Austin. At every turn, Ben Page’s character resembles an angry panther about to pounce. Notice, for example, how he perches on a chair, like a trained animal. And the sadistic way Lee treats Austin’s typewriter is a frightening metaphor for his all-consuming rage.

This play’s basically a two-hander, but Shepard created a couple more characters with whom Austin and Lee must interact. They each bring out additional aspects the two brothers. Joshua L. Green, who plays Sam, is a smarmy movie mogul. Like Page, he  was also seen at the Copley in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE. Another multitalented performer, Mr. Green also appeared in SWEAT at the Copley and in DREAMGIRLS at the Paramount. His character becomes easily manipulated and duped by Lee, while his blithe, offhanded Hollywood attitude understandably infuriates Austin. Carin Buinis, who’s a regular face at Paramount (THE FULL MONTY, THE WIZARD OF OZ, CABARET), is excellent as Mom. She arrives late in the play, portraying a divorced parent who’s lost control over her grown boys and has simply given up. Mom returns unexpectedly from a vacation that failed to inspire her. All she wants is to return to the comfort of her home, but she’s stunned by what she finds. Mom walks into the kitchen only to discover her two sons engaged in a bloody battle and her house in ruins. Her understandable shock and how she handles the situation provides a little kindheartedness and humor to the play.

In addition to Jim Corti’s excellent Direction and a truly talented cast, Paramount’s production of TRUE WEST is made even finer by some excellent technical support. John Tovar’s realistic Fight Choreography is visceral and jaw-dropping. Lauren M. Nichols’ realistic, minutely-detailed California style kitchen, with hanging plants in the windows, opens up onto a gorgeous vista of a majestic mountains. The kitchen is thoroughly stocked with a myriad of 1980’s-era props, courtesy of hardworking Prop Master, Ivy Thomas. And she has to be applauded because at each performance a large number of the Properties get destroyed and have to be replaced or repaired before the next performance. Stephanie Cluggish’s Costumes provide additional details about each character, from Lee’s dirty, worn and torn desert duds to Austin’s preppy patina; from Saul’s California chic ensemble to Mom’s conservative travel wear. And Forrest Gregor’s spot-on Sound Design adds another layer of realism, liberally laced with a symphony of eerie sound made by coyotes howling. 

Paramount Theatre continues another exciting new Bold Series of smaller cast plays and musicals at the Copley Theatre. It’s launched by this excellent, breathtaking and thought-provoking production of Sam Shepard’s American classic. Amid all the anguish and pain, the pride and humility, a phalanx of feelings flow within and between these two brothers that seem honest and empathetic. Ultimately we see two men, portrayed by a pair of terrific young actors, who are, as Saul comments, two sides of the same coin. And in appreciating this observation, we can also see that in Shepard’s riveting tale of sibling rivalry, we have another case where opposites attract.      

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented July 16-August 31 by Paramount Theatre at the Copley Theatre, 8 East Galena Blvd., Aurora, IL

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling 630-896-6666, or by going to www.paramountaurora.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.