By Sam Shepard
Directed by John Ribovich
May 8th to June 1st, 2003
True West bristles with dark humor and explosive
emotion, as two brothers, one a mild-mannered
screenwriter, the other a violent drifter confront
each other in their mother's tidy suburban home on the
edge of the desert. In the course of a few days, the
brothers exchange roles, as each struggles to assume
the other's identity. A master of contemporary
dialogue, Pulitzer Prize winner Sam Shepard explores
the violence, humor and poetry at the heart of the
mythical American West.
True West is perfectly suited to Calaveras Rep's
intimate, language-oriented theatre, a theatre that
sets the actors and the playwright center stage. Pat
Seiler (Marin Theatre Company, San Francisco
Shakespeare Festival) plays Austin, the professional
screenwriter, and Erik Gandolfi (Sundance Film
Festival) plays Lee, his roguish brother. Maddy Fluhr
(San Jose Repertory Theatre) and Jack Codd
(TheatreWorks) round out the cast.
