True West

True West

Roundabout Theatre Company

American Airlines Theatre

December 28, 2018

Photo courtesy of Roundabout Theatre Co.

In True West Sam Shepard explores the jealousy and competition between brothers by heightening the clashes and destroying all acceptable facades.  The Roundabout Theatre Company production is well conceived and executed.  Director James Macdonald creates a rhythm between the two main characters that establishes their relationship.  As the action develops and the tables turn, the truth of the sibling rivalry reveals itself and explodes to an out of control level.

Lee (played by Ethan Hawke) drops in on his brother, Austin (played by Paul Dano), who is house sitting for their mother (played by Marylouise Burke) while she is on vacation in Alaska.  Austin is focused on writing a screenplay, while Lee is looking for his next grift.  During a meeting Austin has with Saul Kimmer, the producer of his project (played by Gary Wilmes), Lee interrupts and steals his thunder.  When Saul jumps at a story idea pitched by Lee, the months of time and effort Austin put on his project is brought to an abrupt and frustrating end.  The brothers are forced to work together and inadvertently face years of deep seeded rage.

Ethan Hawke & Paul Dano
Photo courtesy of Roundabout Theatre Company

Paul Dano and Ethan Hawke are perfectly matched in this production.  From the beginning of the play they are both driven by underlying emotion that clearly defines their early years of growing up together.  When the stakes are raised, they both reveal how far these suppressed emotions will take them.  In the final scene any remains of rational thinking is eviscerated and the sparks fly freely.  Mr. Dano’s and Mr. Hawke’s characters are impulsively driven.  Each scene contains unexpected turns that reveal their true selves.  Both men challenge themselves and deliver genuine performances.

True West is playing at the American Airlines Theatre through March 17.  Don’t miss this Sam Shepard scrutiny of family dynamics and brotherly rivalry.

Domenick Danza

Isolde

Isolde

Theatre for a New Audience

Polonsky Shakespeare Center

September 23, 2015

Photo courtesy of
Theatre for a New Audience

NewYork City Players' Isolde, a new play written and directed by Richard Maxwell, is playing at Theatre for a NewAudience’s Polonsky Shakespeare Center in downtown Brooklyn until September 27.  It received a lot of attention on social media, so I was excited to get a ticket on TDF.  I found the production disengaging, the style cold, and the ending confusing and unsatisfying.  

Isolde, a famous actress (played by Tory Vazquez), is having trouble with her memory, and decides to take on a new project.  She hires Massimo, an award-winning artist/architect (played by Gary Wilmes) to design her dream house.  Her successful contactor husband, Patrick (played by Jim Fletcher), gives her unquestioned support on her new project, which includes looking the other way when she and Massimo begin an affair.  Patrick eventually takes over completing the dream house when Massimo is unable to follow through on his creative vision, leaving Isolde at a loss.

Jim Fletcher, Gary Wilmes, and Tory Vazquez in Isolde
Photo courtesy of Theatre for a New audience

You would think the triangle love story who lend to a passionate and fiery story, but the actors were all stylistically monotone and robotic.  The way they crossed the stage with their hands at their sides, deliberately lifted and moved chairs from one setting to the other, stood facing front while talking and “relating” to each other, and even the way they held the stems of their wine glasses was all unnatural and irksome.  The plot was relatively simple, yet I was unable to identify what motivated the characters to take action.  This left me feeling ambivalent to the action of the play and unable to empathize or relate to the characters.

Photo courtesy of Theatre for a New Audience

While researching Richard Maxwell, I discovered he is known for his minimalistic roots.  Reviewer David Cote wrote “to any Maxwell newbie, the non sequiturs, cryptic pauses and jarring shifts in tone will seem utterly absurd and weird.”  Reviewer Helen Shaw haled him “the bard of downtown deadpan,” and said that Isolde “is more Chekhovian than operatic.”  I have to agree with those statements.  Chekhov, however, can be engaging, and “absurd and weird” can be interesting.  Due to my first experience, I will probably remain a “Maxwell newbie” for a while longer.

Domenick Danza