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

November 19, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Release prepared by: Linda Jerke

Barton Community College will honor its faculty with a reception preceding the Monday evening, Nov. 23, performance of the college’s fall play, “True West.” The reception will take place in the lobby of the Fine Arts Building, and the doors will open at 6 p.m.

The faculty have a tree reserved in the Shafer Gallery’s Holiday Tree Display and they will bring ornaments that represent being a teacher, or the subject they teach, to place on the their tree.

The college is presenting Sam Shepard’s most produced play, “True West,” at 7 p.m. Sunday and Monday, Nov. 22 and 23, in Barton’s Fine Arts Auditorium. The 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.

Barton’s cast includes Scott White, Lawrence freshman, as Austin; James Winston, Ellsworth freshman, as Lee; Kenny Hopkinson, Barton forensics coach, as Hollywood producer Saul Kimmer; and Ann Rogers, Great Bend, as the mother.

Barton Theatre Director Erin Renard directs the play. Amanda Cargile, Abilene freshman, serves as stage manager and properties mistress, and Dane Murray, Great Bend freshman, is lighting and sound designer. Alan Baxter, Great Bend, is in charge of set design and construction.

As the play is presented, the audience will be seated on the stage in black-box style with angled seating. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the night of each performance. No tickets will be sold in advance. General admission tickets are $5. Tickets are $2 for all students, Silver Cougar Club members and Barton faculty and staff. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. Sunday and 6 p.m. Monday for the faculty reception.

Widely considered one of America’s greatest living playwrights, Shepard is also an accomplished actor, director, screenwriter and musician, Renard said. He is the 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, he is probably best known for his Academy Award-nominated portrayal of pilot Chuck Yeager in “The Right Stuff” (1983).

Written in 1978, “True West” was first performed in July of 1980 at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco where Shepard was the resident playwright. In December 1980, it opened in New York City, starring Tommy Lee Jones as Austin and Peter Boyle as Lee. In 1982, “True West” was revived at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, featuring then-unknown actors Gary Sinise (who also directed the production) and John Malkovich.

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

For additional information about Barton’s theatre production of “True West,” contact Dean of Academics Dr. Rick Abel, 620-792-9333, or abelr@bartonccc.edu.