On the Edge
HCC Theater Dept. presents Sam Shepard's True West April 16-19
Two brothers walk into a room – the cluttered kitchen of their mother’s suburban house on the edge of the Mojave Desert. One is a screenwriter on the verge of his big break, the other a petty thief scratching for a living off the grid. (Somewhere out there in the wild too is their father, a toothless drunk who, despite his absence, looms large in both their lives.)
As coyotes howl, and temperatures rise, one brother covets what the other’s got.
That’s the setup for True West, a seminal work by the late Sam Shepard, that opens Wednesday, April 16, at Holyoke Community College. Directed by HCC theater professor Tim Cochran, the play explores timeless themes like sibling rivalry and paternal worship while also questioning myths about Hollywood and the American West.
“It’s a story about class, it’s a story about family,” said Cochran. “I think it’s a comedic piece, although I don’t know if everybody will find it funny, but, as a student, I found it hilarious. It’s like a chess match between the two brothers, Lee and Austin, as they try to manipulate each other. One move leads to another, and, before you know it, it becomes a powder keg of conflict.”
The HCC Theater Department production of True West runs April 16-19, with shows at 7:30 p.m. each night in the college’s Black Box Theater (room 111 of the Fine and Performing Arts Building), with an additional matinee performance on Saturday, April 19, at 2 p.m. (The Friday, April 18, show will be ASL-interpreted.)
The play originally premiered in 1980 and is set about the same time in Rancho Cucamonga, a Los Angeles suburb. The action takes place over the course of a few days in a single location, a congested kitchen.
For True West, unlike most HCC productions, Cochran and HCC theater professor Matt Whiton, the stage designer, decided to forego the college’s larger Leslie Phillips Theater for the more intimate Black Box Theater, which seats only 55 people, compared to 320. That choice, Cochran said, allowed Whiton to design a hyper-realistic set, adding to the claustrophobic, voyeuristic nature of the play.
“I love directing in the Black Box,” said Cochran. “The barrier between the audience and the action is very limited. The audience is literally in the same space with the actors. You will really be in the kitchen with the brothers as they battle it out.”
The small theater is accompanied by an equally small cast of four actors: HCC alum Tom Roché ’16 of Holyoke, portrays Austin, the screenwriter, who is housesitting for his mother; Miguel Dailey of Agawam plays Lee, his prodigal – and threatening – brother; Dan Madden of Longmeadow is Austin’s Hollywood agent, Saul Kimmer; while Shea Molbury, of West Springfield, plays the mother, who is on vacation in Alaska.
Cochran selected the play, he said, in part because of the impact it had on him as a college student studying theater in the ‘90s.
“It wasn’t until I listened to the writing of Sam Shepard that I realized there were plays out there that actually captured the rhythms and pacings and heartbeat of the way people really talked,” he said. “Everything counts. You feel like you’re sneaking a peak into people’s lives.”
“The play really changed the way I saw theater,” he said. “I’ve heard the same thing from others, time and time again.”
Although, he’s been directing rehearsals, the first time he sees the play performed live in front of an audience will be opening night, though he fondly remembers watching a recorded PBS American Playhouse version of True West starring Gary Sinise and John Malkovich as Austin and Lee.
“As a college student, I paid 60 bucks for the VHS tape because I thought it was so good,” he said.
IF YOU GO:
“True West”
By Sam Shepard
Directed by Tim Cochran
April 16-19, 7:30 p.m.
April 19, 2 p.m.
Holyoke Community College
Black Box Theater (FPA 111)
Tickets: $10
(Available one hour before each show at the Leslie Phillips Box Office, call 413-552-2528 to reserve, or go to hcctheater.ludus.com to purchase in advance.)
