Brothers at odds: Paramount Theatre delivers superbly acted revival of Sam Shepard’s classic ‘True West’

“True West” — 4 stars

One of my favorite Sam Shepard monologues occurs in “True West,” his dark, 1980 dramedy in a superbly acted revival at Aurora's Paramount Theatre. It comes at the end of the first act, as rival siblings — Lee (Ben Page), a drifter and thief, and Austin (Jack Ball), his Ivy League-educated brother — reach a tense détente over a screenplay they're writing.

The lights dim as Lee dictates to his brother a scene from the film about modern day cowboys in a twilight chase across the Texas plains.

“Each one separately thinks that he's the only one that's afraid …,” Page's Lee murmurs reverently. “And the one who's chasin' doesn't know where the other one is taking him. And the one who's being chased doesn't know where he's going.”

A quiet scene, it conveys the danger and unease underscoring Shepard's engrossing examination of identity, masculinity, art and commerce, the mythic American West and the disillusionment with the American dream.

The time is 1980. The place is the kitchen in middle-class Southern California home belonging to Lee and Austin's mother. Designed by Lauren M. Nichols and evocatively illuminated by designer Cat Wilson, it's a homey space with harvest gold appliances, flowered wall paper, a chrome dinette, faux Tiffany pendant lamps along with a faint whiff of percolating coffee and toasting bread.

We first encounter button-upped screenwriter Austin sitting at the kitchen peninsula contemplating his first big project. Accompanied by a chorus of chirping crickets and howling coyotes (courtesy of sound designer Forrest Gregor), he works on a historical romance screenplay while house-sitting for his vacationing mother.

Observing him is the unemployed, beer-guzzling Lee, who shows up after a five-year absence, sweaty, greasy-haired, sporting a wild beard and wearing dirty clothes. Destitute, Lee has returned after months in the desert to case the neighborhood in preparation for some late-night breaking-and-entering.

Their interaction is strained, as evidenced by Austin clenching and unclenching his fist and rubbing his ear, a nervous habit he shares with the equally unsettled Lee.

Lee bullies and taunts. Austin appeases and, after much cajoling, he agrees to lend Lee his car in exchange for Lee's promise to stay away from the house while Austin meets with Hollywood producer Saul Kimmer (a savvy, confident Joshua L. Green). Lee returns early, ingratiates himself to Saul and pitches him a contemporary western, which they agree to discuss over golf the next morning.

The brothers' rivalry intensifies as the untrained fabulist competes against the experienced scribe for a career-making opportunity. At the same time, each begins to recognize in the other the life denied that each desires.

For Lee, it's having the fancy house with Mexican tile and copper pots hanging above the stove, the “kinda' place you wish you sorta' grew up in.” For Austin, it's abandoning a life of swallowing smog and shopping at Safeway for one of petty crime and adventure.

Straight-arrow Austin and vagabond Lee are two sides of the same psyche. The increasingly absurd second act finds them taking on each other's identity over the course of a multiday bender, which ends with the unexpected arrival of mom (brava Caron Buinis for the vigor she brings to the role) to a home she no longer recognizes.

Ideally paced at two hours, including intermission, director Jim Corti's deliberate, unrushed “True West” is a slow-burn. Corti keeps in check the histrionics, which makes for a more credible drama. And while the play's menace is less insistent than other revivals I've seen, the trademark violence — beginning with the unexpected shove Lee gives Austin early in the play that caused a collective inhale from the opening night audience and ending with the brothers' ferocious, gasp-inducing final confrontation — still shocks.

Ball and Page's acting is superb. Their performances are multilayered. The tension between them is evident the moment the lights go down. Page, who has the showier role, looms large as the play begins. He fixes Ball's Austin with a thousand-yard stare that suggests a man on the brink of madness. Ball's rigid stance as the play begins suggests a man preparing for an onslaught. By the end, he's delivered one.

“True West” has a storied history in Chicago. With this revival, Paramount wrote the next chapter.

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Location: Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, (630) 896-6666, paramountaurora.com

Showtimes: 1:30 and 7 p.m. Wednesday; 7 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday; 1 and 5:30 p.m. Sunday through Aug. 31

Running time: About 2 hours, including intermission

Tickets: $40-$55

Parking: Limited street parking, paid lots nearby

Rating: For adults; contains violence, strong language, violence