Sibling rivalries have often provided fertile ground for playwrights to explore, from Shakespeare’s “King Lear” to the Tennessee Williams classic, “Cat on a Hot Tin Wolf.”
The theme also fits in perfectly with Allen Community College’s upcoming production of Sam Shepard’s “True West,” which runs this weekend and next at the ACC Theatre.
Tricia Stodgsdill, Allen’s theater and film instructor, opted for “True West” as the college’s opening play of the 2025-26 season for a couple of reasons.
One, it’s part of Allen’s thread of plays this school year examining the American Dream, and how it fits the family aesthetic.
And two, because Stodgsdill was confident she had a cast and crew talented enough to bring Shepard’s tale to life.
Boy, do they.
“True West” follows the story of estranged brothers, Austin and Lee.
Austin is the “good” son, well-educated, married, and with a promising career as a screenwriter.
Lee, the rough-and-tumble older brother, is more intent on a vagabond lifestyle, apt to disappear into the night without a moment’s notice.
Austin is tasked with housesitting for his mother while she’s away on vacation, eager to use the opportunity to finish his long-awaited script, with the promise of a lucrative film deal within arm’s reach.
Lee’s arrival changes that.
The tension is palpable as the brothers interact with forced small talk that devolves into a lop-sided power struggle, with Austin struggling to endure his intimidating brother, who in turn is a bit perturbed by his younger brother’s sense of superior morality.
The simmering feud gets a boost when Saul, Austin’s agent, arrives for a business meeting, only to take a liking to the charismatic Lee, and the promise of an even better script stemming from Lee’s familiarity with the “real” west.
What follows is a fascinating examination of a shifting, yet no less volatile, dynamic between rivals as Austin is stung by rejection, and Lee is afforded a chance at something truly legitimate.
The two leads — Cole Moyer as Austin and Gabriel Wolf as Lee — will keep the audience spellbound as the story unwinds and their opposing identities start to blur.
Moyer is captivating as a character whose life is suddenly not so clear-cut, and who comes to the stunning revelation he has more in common with his ne’er-do-well brother than he ever realized.
Likewise, Wolf deftly encapsulates Lee, and his unpredictable manner as he struggles to find a way to adjust his ambitions beyond a wanderer’s existence.
A pair of supporting characters also deserve a round of applause
