True West With Alchemist in January

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Sam Shepard’s True West is a remarkably tight dramatic study of two people. They’re both brothers. It’s the type of thing that lends itself quite well to intimate studio theatre productions. There was a Steppenwolf production of it that was aired for PBS ages ago featuring Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. Search around online and you’ll find it on YouTube. Even in fragmented segments in a tiny browser window this thing is intense.

For those who want something a little bit more living than a ten-part YouTube video from decades ago, Alchemist Theatre is staging a production of Shepard’s play next month. David Sapiro plays Lee. Lee is a drifter who has come to hang out with his brother. He’s really, really manipulative. He’s being played here by David Sapiro was quite memorable in Alchemist’s ill-fated production of Oleanna this past summer.

His brother Austin is an educated man. In spite of this, he has decided to become a Hollywood screenwriter. He’s working on something really important. Lee is going to complicate matters for him.  Jason Will plays his brother. Will has made quite an impression in various Shakespeare productions of late. He’s got a lot of dramatic gravity onstage. It’ll be interesting to see him in something a little more modern with a lot more of a share of the stage than those Shakespeare shows.

The show is directed by Erin Nicole Eggers, who directed the ill-fated production of Oleanna last summer. Those of us who were lucky enough to have seen that production know that it was evidence that Eggers works really well with in-depth drama that is largely drawn from two people. There was really sharp character work in Oleanna. Her work here should hold a similar depth--especially with these two actors at the center of the drama.

The Alchemist Theatre’s production of True West runs Jan. 15 - 31 at the Alchemist’s space on 2569 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.