True West By Sam Shepard: Play In Summary

Samuel Shepard Rogers VII was born in Illinois in 1943, but his father career was a man in the army, and like most “army brats”, Shepard found himself essentially uprooted, moving from base to base around the country. In this reflection, I will indicate the significance of one of his most popular plays called, True West.

True West that was written in 1980 talks about a family life, or in better words part of family, that was shattered for some reasons and sometimes it’s hard to identify what would be the real reason that got this family all separated but most likely while you read through the play or watch it performed on stage, you will notice that there no clear reasons  or signs that guide you into the main concept of this family and why they are so far from each other; perhaps when they got all shattered like that depending on unknown circumstances into individuals isolated in their inability to understand and express their feelings for one another. 

TRUE WEST is a character study that examines the relationship between Austin, a screenwriter, and his older brother Lee. It is set in the kitchen of their mother's home 40 miles east of Los Angeles. Austin is house-sitting while their mother is in Alaska, and there he is confronted by his brother, who proceeds to bully his way into staying at the house and using Austin's car. In addition, the screenplay which Austin is pitching to his connection in Hollywood somehow gets taken over by the pushy con-man tactics of Lee, and the brothers find themselves forced to cooperate in the creation of a story that will make or break both their lives. In the process, the conflict between the brothers creates a heated situation in which their roles as successful family man and nomadic drifter are somehow reversed, and each man finds himself admitting that he had somehow always wished he were in the other's shoes.

This play was first performed at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, where Shepard was the resident playwright. It had its world premiere there on July 10, 1980. It was originally directed by Robert Woodruff and featured Peter Coyote (Austin) and Jim Haynie (Lee). 

What I really think that was interesting for me to mention as well while I was reading the play on the book and a little about True West and when it was first produced, I also had to go on by myself and do some more research about this play, characters and the author himself and here I though probably I should share one of Shepard’s quotes about this play particularly, when he says: "I wanted to write a play about double nature, one that wouldn't be symbolic or metaphorical or any of that stuff. I just wanted to give a taste of what it feels like to be two-sided. It's a real thing, double nature. I think we're split in a much more devastating way than psychology can ever reveal. It's not so cute. Not some little thing we can get over. It's something we've got to live with." Sam Shepard

I honestly like this play a lot, and I already considered it as one of my favorites plays not only to read but to watch on stage someday in near future as well.