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REVIEWS
Cast illuminates questions in Western
By Sherwin Mackintosh, "The Gainesville Sun"
In a
highly anticipated opening, the world premiere of American Western
at UF's Constans Theater takes us on a wild ride through this Nuevo
West. It is a triumph for Director Kevin Marshall and UF alumnus and
playwright, Neal Utterback.
Set
in a small, rural town in Indiana built on ghosts and secrets,
American Western explores the issues of war, politics and sexuality.
Lt. Daniel Boone has come to bury one of his soldiers, Sergeant Patrick
Flynn, who was killed in the war. After outing the dead soldier at his
own funeral, Lt. Boone decides to stay on for a few days, challenging
the townspeople to be truthful with themselves. One of the characters
remarks, "Everyone thinks that they're doing the right thing. But that's
just not possible. Somebody's doing the wrong thing."
In
the playwright's notes in the program, Utterback says to " . . . Let go
of all you hold to be true . . . put your beliefs, politics, dogma,
religion, sexuality, everything into the crucible and see what comes
out." That's exactly what he does.
Not
for the faint-hearted, American Western has just about everything
in it, from a transvestite Indian to a pregnant female sheriff and every
imaginable sexual orientation in between. In an endless search for truth
with no answers, the audience is compelled to question everything and
yet at times feels induced to accept some unspoken truth of
truthlessness.
The
play employs a variety of ways to break down the "fourth wall" with the
audience. Just when you think the playwright is going over the top, our
lead/narrator calls it, voicing what we all were thinking. The play
keeps the audience laughing with bizarre characters and crazy plot turns
throughout.
Kevin Marshall, the Director of the School of Theater and Dance, does an
excellent job in directing the play, giving the characters time to
breathe and time for the audience to absorb the clever dialogue. It was
a very personal experience for Marshall, who has a son currently serving
in Iraq on his second term of duty.
The cast is all very strong, with a magnificent performance by
retiring UF professor David Shelton as the spirit of John Cody Jones.
Shelton shows us what only a veteran actor can: a truly believable
character, even as a ghost. Ted Stephens III does an excellent job as
Daniel Boone, our cocky, vulnerable guide; centering the story.
American Western is not an easy play; it can be quite uncomfortable
at times. Yet, as Utterback reminds us again in his notes, "good theatre
asks questions and provokes us to re-examine the status quo."
American Western does just that. It takes us beyond the charming
veneer of a quiet Midwestern town and exposes the barrenness beneath. It
challenges us to do the same thing with our own lives and to go home and
ask ourselves "some big, nasty, hard questions."
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