Flying Penguin’s True West is high calibre theatre superbly acted and produced by this emerging Adelaide theatre company. Sam Shepard’s play is about two brothers, two very different brothers, confronting each other’s strengths and weaknesses and exposing their sibling rivalries and jealousies. Other than for a few interventions, it is just two characters battling it out on stage to prove themselves to each other and themselves. Renato Musolino as Austin and Nick Garsden as Lee command the set as much as they attempt to do the other. Garsden in particular pulls off a very difficult character brilliantly belying a significant period away from the stage before this part.

Of particular interest were the trashing of the stage and props (some poor body’s lot to restore each night) and the way the scene changes allowed the audience to almost participate in the shifts easing us all into the next part without having to unpack so many clues. That effectively just 2 actors could make nearly two hours so gripping is testament to both story and cast.

Theatre worthy of the Festival. Go see.

Kryztoff Rating: 4.5K

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