True West Previews

True West begins previews at the American Airlines Theatre in 2 days, so I assume their invited dress should be very soon.


True West is written by Sam Shepard and directed by James MacDonald. Previews begin December 27 with opening night set for January 24, 2019.

SYNOPSIS: Holed up in their mothers California house, screenwriter Austin and lowlife Lee wrestle with big issuesand each other, leading to the airing of old resentments and some unexpected twists in the relationship.

CAST: Ethan Hawke (Lee), Paul F. Dano (Austin), Marylouise Burke (Mom), & Gary Wilmes (Saul Kimmer)

Updated On: 12/25/18 at 09:15 PM

Danielle49 said: "Ill be at the first preview! Ive never attended a first preview for a show before so Im very excited to be one of the first to see what theyve been cooking up"

Can’t wait to hear what you think!

This production of True West isnt exactly firing on all cylinders at the moment, but I think it has the potential to be a good revival in time.

I like Shepards plays, but they arent exactly plot heavy. When you have a play thats essentially two brothers sitting in a living room/kitchen discussing stories and screenplays for two hours, the two actors need to be totally keyed into the material and each other to create that crackle that will hold our attention.

Hawke is pretty much there- hes very much in touch with his character and the script at least. Dano has the trickier role and comes off flat in act one.

The play becomes increasingly surreal in act two, or should at least, but right now instead of descent into madness its more like, very naturalistic drama/light switch/crazy town. Dano could really have Austin start losing it a little more during Sauls second visit; to watch him jeopardize his career like that would put the audience on edge and set up the following scenes even better.

The final 10-15 minutes need some work. It just didnt gel and give the punch it could.

This may seem obvious, but if you dont already like the play, I dont think this revival is going to convert you. Its talky (though not a slog) and off-kilter and if you dont like that combo no amount of good acting and clever scene changes will alter your opinion.

---

True West is my favorite Sam Shepard play, so here's hoping the show can tighten up over previews.

The only Broadway production of a Shepard play I've seen that truly worked was the previous revival of True West with John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman, which was pitched perfectly for the intimate, weird design of Circle in the Square. The 2015 Fool for Love was designed for the tiny (150-seat) second stage at Williamstown, and it lost a lot of its power when moved into the substantially larger Friedman Theatre. Ditto the production of Buried Child that started at Steppenwolf and ended up at the Brooks Atkinson. The best productions of Shepard plays I've seen have all been Off-Broadway or in regional houses, which are usually the right size for his type of play.

I haven't seen this production yet, and I don't want to pre-judge it, but there are many elements that just read as wrong to me -- the size of the Airlines being one of them.

Yes. There's a $47 in person rush when they open.

Fordham2015 said: "while Dano was slightly standoffish Hawke spoke with everyone and took innumerable selfies. I joked to my friend that Hawke would be in the line for 12 years like Boyhood, and he heard me and yelled "That's right!""

Macdonald said in a promo video that while Dano and Hawke are both brilliant actors, they’re complete polar opposites as people. I find that fascinating, especially in how both actors might work and how it lends itself to the play. This stage door anecdote points to their personality differences as well. I know someone who had a college class with Dano and they said he was very, very quiet and to himself. Hawke strikes me as charismatic and chatty.

On a different note, I was at the first preview via Access10 and will be at the final performance via HIPTIX (both mezzanine), but I want to see it either just before opening or right after from a better seat. Has anyone sat in the boxes yet? I’m thinking I’ll do that instead of risking rush seating locations. If the boxes are terrible for this production, however, I’d rather splurge on orchestra.

Any help is appreciated!

I saw the Hoffman-Reilly production (as Austin and Lee, respectively) which was fantastic. However, having gone on to play Austin myself, its definitely a tough role as hes not a particularly interesting character and mostly reacts to whatever Lee is doing for the entire first half of the play, which is mostly a setup for the second half. I also think it really has to be done in a tiny theater or at least thrust or in the round.

These two actors seem like theyd be good in these roles though.

I enjoyed this a lot - though I do have some reservations. MacDonald's direction has some questionable moments, for sure, but his best contribution to this production was in allowing Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano to let loose and really make the roles their own. Ethan Hawke in particular is giving an extraordinary performance. He would be my pick for the Tony over both Cranston and Daniels. As Whizzer said, Dano has trouble in act one, but IMO he redeems himself a lot in act 2. And both actors play off of each other very well. Still, Hawke's is the stronger performance overall, I think.

Watching these two intelligent actors have fun with a script like this was thrilling and hilarious. I laughed a lot throughout the evening. I definitely recommend this, but more for the acting than for the production. I didn't think the direction was bad, but the choices (particularly regarding the set, the scene changes, and the ending) felt a little off.

tsondie21 said: "Does anyone know if there is an in person rush for this?"

We tried to rush through the todaytix app with no luck. We went to the box office at noon yesterday and they kindly sold us 2 rush tickets for $40 each. The seats were in the last row (row f), but the theater is small, and we thought the seats were great. We had a great time!