True West boasts fine leading actors By picking the right play, a theatre troupe is more than half way to staging a successful production. The Ausable Theatre certainly met that goal by selecting True West to launch its fourth season. But this presentation of Sam Shepard's gripping script -- which opened last night at the Black Lodge in Galleria London -- also boasts two fine actors in its lead roles. Directed by Michael Semple, Ray Bowen and Tim Culbert bring to life the two characters at the centre of Shepard's powerful drama about sibling rivalry. The seemingly sedate site for the duo's turbulent reunion is their mother's suburban home in the American West. Austin (Bowen) is a Hollywood screenwriter struggling with a deadline while trying to finish a script. The uninvited and unwelcome house guest is his brother Lee (Culbert), a reclusive drifter and small-time crook, anxious to cut himself in on Austin's potentially lucrative movie project. Using his hustler's guile, Lee does just that, further alienating his younger brother. In the process, the two reverse their passive and aggressive roles. Lee, the former rebel without a pause, takes over the typewriter and attempts to write a "real-life" script, while the frustrated Austin starts drinking heavily and goes on a petty crime wave in the neighbourhood. All the while, their personality conflict is intensifying and tensions are set on a slow boil. What keeps the drama from descending into a grim abyss is the stress relief provided by Shepard's comic touches. "In this country we make movies. We leave films to the French," quips Lee, paraphrasing the advice he got from Hollywood producer Saul Kimmer (Mike Wilmot). As for Austin's criminal activity? He steals toasters. Comic relief, however, can't sidetrack the inevitable confrontation between the brothers and their deep-seated, long-standing resentments finally erupt in a violent, life-threatening episode. Bowen and Culbert make an excellent stage team in this Odd-Couple-on-steroids scenario. They're very adept at wringing both the gut-wrenching emotions and the sardonic humour from the play, written in 1980 by Shepard, a Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright and movie actor. This production also benefits from an authentic-looking kitchen set designed by director Semple, a London native and University of Western Ontario graduate whose Canadian theatre career spans 25 years. The show's only bothersome element is its lighting scheme. The semi-darkness in several of the early scenes blunts some of the play's emotional impact. True West is the first production staged by the theatre company away from Lucan's Ausable Centre, its home for the last three years. "There's thinking, there's feeling and there's laughing and I like them all to be in each script," says Jeff Culbert, Ausable Theatre's artistic director/founder about the troupe's current playbill. Besides True West, Ausable's 2001 season includes Running Rude, a Jeff Culbert comedy premiering Aug. 11 to 19 at the London Fringe Festival, and King Phoenix by Robertson Davies, to be staged at the Grand Theatre's McManus Studio Sept. 21 to Oct. 6. IF YOU GO What: True West, a play by Sam Shepard; an Ausable Theatre presentation directed by Michael Semple; featuring Ray Bowen, Tim Culbert, Mike Wilmot and June Cole Where: The Black Lodge, Galleria London When: nightly (8 p.m.) until April 21 (except Monday and Tuesday); matinee at 2 p.m., this Saturday Tickets: $15. Saturday's matinee is pay-what-you-can. For ticket reservations call (519) 645-1130. 2001-04-12 Noel Gallagher is a Free Press reporter covering arts and entertainment.