TRUE WEST
by Sam Shepard
directed by Wendy Obstler
featuring Lance Beckoff, Andre Carriere, Tiger Reel & Caryl West
June 19 - July 25, 2009
About the Show
Brothers Austin and Lee are together for the first in five years. Austin is plant-sitting for Mom and working on his latest screenplay when his older brother, Lee, shows up unannounced. Lee has been living on the desert for 3 months and finds nothing wrong with burglarizing neighboring houses to generate cash. Austin is a successful family man and currently just seeks some peace and quiet. The next several days and stream of events prove to be ‘transformative’ for both brothers, to say the least. True West is a character study of not only the relationship between the brothers, Austin and Lee, but the nagging need most humans have of “the-grass-is-always-greener” syndrome, constantly in search for something different and better, always trying to ‘get to’ that other situation or wishing to be in another’s shoes. Ultimately, the unfolding of the play reveals to the depth of what Shepard refers to as “double nature”; the other side of one’s self that can emerge in all of us…. Sometimes for better. Sometimes for worse.
"Doghouse Theatre & Action! Theatre Company present a flawlessly detailed rendition of Sam Shepard's 'True West'......Reel's portrayal of Austin is spot-on, filled with brilliant subtleties."
- Tolucan Times
"Director Wendy Obstler demonstrates a steady hand with Shepard's slowly simmering story. Where others might rush the play's emotional arc, Obstler affords her cast the time and luxury to build the necessary tension. Having cast Tiger Reel and Andre Carriere as her leads certainly makes Obstler's work that much easier.....Carriere, sinewy and tattooed, embodies this unpredictable familial menace with ease. Is Lee teetering on the edge of insanity, or is his short fuse a time-tested method of psychologically outfoxing everyone around him? Those moments of silence when we watch the wheels spinning in Carriere's head make Reel's discomfort so grippingly palpable."
- Backstage West
