KEY POINTS:
Auckland audiences have had limited opportunities to experience the work of Pulitzer prize-winning writer Sam Shepard and Paul Gitttins' production of True West provides compelling reasons to hope that we may see more.
Shepard epitomises the muscular confidence of American writing that seems capable of taking on everything.
Gritty naturalism, surreal allegory, incisive social commentary and deep psychological insight are jammed into a tremendously entertaining package that features hilarious dialogue and wildly anarchic action sequences.
The play sets up a multi-layer confrontation between the twin poles of the American dream with the rugged individualism of the frontier pitted against the nurturing security of suburbia. John Parker's set design finds a precise visual metaphor for this dichotomy by placing a neat row of potted ferns against a massive projection of desert landscape.
The conflict is personified in a tussle between two brothers - one a successful screenwriter, the other a restless drifter. The sibling rivalry, with echoes of Cain and Abel, is played out in their mother's house where the boys find themselves competing for the attention of a Hollywood producer.
But the story is given an intriguing complication when the brothers switch roles and qualities that would appear to be irreconcilable are revealed as two sides of the same coin.
The elder brother, Lee, who is a rebellious outsider, provides an absolute gem of a role and Michael Lawrence seizes the opportunity, throwing himself into the part with a conviction that is utterly mesmerising.
The physicality of his performance lends a broad emotional range to the characterisation in which the menacing deliberations of a hustler are matched with the bizarre spectacle of a meat-headed wild man discovering the joys and despair of screenwriting.
Lawrence's performance initially overshadows the domesticated brother, Austin, who embodies the less appealing qualities of an ambitious suburbanite.
But as the siblings trade places and Austin is introduced to the delights of petty burglary, Richard Thompson's performance reveals its strengths. His obsessive determination to move to the desert creates an edgy intensity that carries the play through to its explosive climax.
Jim McLarty as the Hollywood deal-maker and Darien Takle as the disinterested mother both deliver finely judged performances while Gittins' pitch-perfect direction sharply delineates the contrasts between the two brothers. John Parker's emblematic set design makes effective use of the deep spaces of the Tapac theatre.
What: True West, by Sam Shepard.
Where: Tapac Theatre, to Sept 12.