BAY AREA STAGE
CONTINUES WIN STREAK
WITH "TRUE WEST" by Tony Wade
by Tony Wade on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 at 7:45am
FAIRFIELD—Bay Area Stage continues their winning streak of bringing powerful , edgy, challenging theater to Solano County. Their latest offering, Sam Shepherd’s “True West,” features a compelling story delivered with fine acting and masterful direction.
As with last fall’s excellent “Kiss of the Spider-Woman,” the show was staged in the intimate confines of the “black box” at Missouri Street Theatre.
The company’s founders /life couple Jeff Lowe and Stacey Loew pour their heart and soul into each production. They each wear as many hats as needed to help the show reach fruition.
When I went to shake Jeff’s hand before the show, he once again had paint all over it like before last year’s “I Hate Hamlet” (although this time it was dry). Lowe and Loew’s love of theater is evident and I enjoy seeing them laughing and enjoying the show as much as those of us experiencing it for the first time.
“True West” is the second Sam Shepherd play the company has produced following last year’s brilliant “Buried Child.” Similar themes of family dysfunction are explored and Shepherd’s unique ability to illicit belly laughs and horror at the same time is present as well.
The story is basically about two brothers who seemingly only have genes in common. Austin (TBA) is a screenwriter while the violent constantly-drinking Lee (Matthew Goff) is a thief who lives in the desert. The entire play takes place in the kitchen of the mother of the estranged siblings (Glenda G. Zahradka) who is away on a trip to Alaska.
The tension between the brothers builds throughout the play as their internal differences regarding art, expectations of life and the unyielding gravitational pull of family are exposed.
As a general rule, I try to reveal as little about a play as I can in a review for the benefit of those who may have never seen it before who prefer, as I do, to go in and experience it unfolding live before their eyes onstage. Suffice it to say that the simmering resentments and anger the brothers feel over situations in their lives eventually bubble over.
That dysfunction quite literally is littered all over the stage by the end of the piece and involves garbage, shattered remnants of shared creativity and oddly enough, the smell of freshly buttered toast wafting through the tiny theater.
TBA as the sweater-wearing, Ivy League-educated Austin is suberb. The transformation (or de-evolution if you will) his character goes through onstage, is, in typical Shepard fashion, disturbing and hilarious.
Matthew Goff’s Lee is an explosion of anger, abuse and violence from the time he sets foot on stage. Yet he was also funny and sympathetic. The chemistry he and McDavid shared drew the audience in from the beginning.
Hollywood agent Saul Kimmer was ably played by Roy Jimenez and he nicely rounded out the character so it wasn’t a “let’s do lunch baby” cliché. Glenda G. Zahradka had a brief yet necessary role which she embodied quite well. Her entrance alone was simply hysterical.
The set (Jane Koski, Beate Bruhl and Jeff Lowe) was a fantastic replica of an everyday American kitchen with all the familiar accoutrements of suburban life. The light design (Charlie Guitron and David Dierks), sound design (David Dierks), and costumes (Stacey Loew) all aided in the necessary suspension of disbelief and yet subtly heightened the reality as well.
The outbursts of violence in the play looked very real and even more so because of the audience’s proximity to the action so a special shout out is due to Fight Choreographer Christopher Mantione.
“True West” is one of those plays that leave you talking about it on the ride home.
As scenes faded into blackout, the audience often didn’t clap. It wasn’t because we didn’t appreciate the incredible acting, but rather because of it. Clapping broke the illusion that we were watching something actually happening as opposed to a remarkable chunk of live theater.
Before the show began, director Jeff Lowe playfully stated that his life and business partner Stacey Loew spelled her name wrong and pointed to a blue hat he wore bearing the logo of the hardware store he shares his moniker with.
Wherever you put the “e” in their names, Bay Area Stage’s Lowe and Loew have definitely set the theatrical bar in Solano County extremely high.
three and a half stars out of four
____________________________________________________________
Reach Fairfield freelance writer Tony Wade at getthelowdown@sbcglobal.net
BAY AREA STAGE PRODUCTIONS
“True West”
8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14-15 and Jan. 21-22; 2 p.m. Jan. 16
Missouri Street Theatre,
1125 Missouri St., Suite 1000,
Fairfield
422-1598
649-1053
http://www.www.bayareastage.org/
http://www.missouristreettheatre.com/
|
• Jeff Lowe |
