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‘True West’ at new Theatre Lab
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
THEATER REVIEW. “True West� 8 tonight-Saturday. $10. Atlanta Theatre Laboratory, Conant Performing Arts Center, Oglethorpe University, 4484 Peachtree Road, Atlanta. 404-731-5871. www.atlaboratory.com. THE VERDICT: Uneven first effort.
Atlanta theater offers perennial encouragement in the form of new ensembles, which crop up unexpectedly and regularly � like shoots from a mother plant that constantly delivers buds.
The latest group to emerge from this hothouse environment is the upstart Atlanta Theatre Laboratory, which has planted Sam Shepard’s brutal black comedy “True West� virtually in the middle of the Conant Performing Arts Center’s expansive stage.
Director/set designer Chadwick Yarborough’s intimate seating � folding chairs on a plywood platform � is a smart way of situating the audience so that it gets maximum exposure to the spiritual lawn mowing that happens when sibling warriors Austin and Lee get cranked up in their mother’s suburban kitchen.
But “True West� ultimately proves too daunting for this cast, which treats Shepard’s vivisection of the remains of the American family like an acting exercise for graduate students. Scruffy Nick Rhoton (“Killer Joe�) is an obvious choice for the part of Lee, the beer-swilling petty thief whose sole purpose in life appears to be terrorizing his buttoned-up screenwriter brother, Austin (Matthew Myers).
Rhoton’s playful instincts � he’s a slowly ticking time bomb who’ll eventually exact his revenge on a typewriter, telephone and a small army of toasters � are all but wasted on Myers (“Take Me Out�), whose approach to this two-headed role is surprisingly leaden and one-dimensional. (Particularly for an actor who’s built a reputation on nervous energy and boyish excitability.) During the first act, Myers does little more than run his lines; during the second, he doesn’t make a persuasive drunk or bully.
Bob Unger’s approximation of unctuous Hollywood producer Saul Kimmer rings true; he’s got the washed-out tan, the flashy white suit (check out those super-wide trouser cuffs), the smarmy disposition. In the tiny role of the mother, Jackie Prucha brings an appropriate mixture of exasperation and calmness.
“True West� is one of the most influential plays of the past quarter-century. In a single bitter pill, Shepard packs the vitriol of Strindberg, the talky poetry of Beckett, the violent impulse of Albee. His language anticipates the twin demons of Suzan-Lori Parks’ “Topdog/Underdog,� and his Old West existentialism sets up Jose Rivera’s “References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot.�
But being a modern classic is a lot to live up to. Audiences bring certain expectations to the iconic roles of Austin and Lee. So while we applaud Atlanta Theatre Laboratory’s fearlessness, we regret that its inaugural effort feels so naive.
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