For more information, contact Dr. Rick Abel, 620-792-9333.

October 2, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release prepared by: Linda Jerke

Auditions for Barton Community College’s fall play, “True West” by acclaimed playwright Sam Shepard, were held Oct. 5, in Barton’s Fine Arts Building, F-145.

Barton Theatre Director Erin Renard will direct the play. Performances are set for Nov. 22 and 23 in Barton’s Fine Arts Auditorium.

The script calls for three males in their 30s and one female in her 60s.

Widely considered one of America's greatest living playwrights, Shepard is also an accomplished actor, director, screenwriter and musician. He is author of several books of short stories, essays and memoirs, and received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1979 for his play, “Buried Child.” As a film actor, Shepard is perhaps best known for his Academy Award nominated portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in “The Right Stuff” (1983).

“True West,” Shepard’s most produced play, tells the story of two brothers: Austin, an ambitious Hollywood screenwriter working on a potential million-dollar deal and Lee, a vagabond thief with a compulsion for six-packs and toasters. Austin and Lee face off for control while venting demons from their dysfunctional past.

The play was first performed on July 10, 1980, at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, where Shepard was the resident playwright. On Dec. 23, 1980, “True West” opened at Joseph Papp's Public Theater in New York City, starring Tommy Lee Jones (Austin) and Peter Boyle (Lee). In 1982, the play was revived by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago featuring then-unknown actors Gary Sinise (who also directed the production) and John Malkovich.

On March 2, 2000, a Broadway revival of “True West” opened at the Circle on the Square Theatre featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly, who alternated playing the lead roles. This critically acclaimed production earned Tony Award nominations for best actor (both Hoffman and Reilly), best director and best play.

For additional information, contact Barton’s Dean of Academics Dr. Rick Abel, 620-792-9333, or abelr@bartonccc.edu.