THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
TRIPS
TRIPS TheFull English
Review of TrueWest
ALEXANDER LEWIS (YEAR 11)
A s is characteristic of Shepard’s plays, with their black comedy and rootless characters, what we see in True West is two estranged brothers meeting again after five years apart. Austin is chasing the American dream by writing a screenplay, which he is attempting to finish when his brother walks in and starts distracting him. Lee is a drifter and petty thief, recently returned from a stay in the Mojave Desert. It would be an understatement to say their relationship is dysfunctional, but the competitive dynamic it creates is what drives the plot forward and can at times be hilarious. For instance, Austin’s attempt to prove his daring by comically lining up a row of stolen toasters at the very front of the stage results in a memorable moment to say the least. The set and sound design is wonderful, from the tacky 80s chairs to the incessant clicking of crickets, which is well noted by the characters, and is indicative of how the set and the performance are inseparable. The main issue of the play was the casting. While Johnny Flynn and Kit Harington are both brilliant actors in their own right, they both struggled to convey the nuances of their characters. Harington captured the slow unravelling of Austin’s sanity to a tee, but arguably his fame in a previous role undermined his attempts at portraying Austin’s quiet and reserved personality at times. The characterisation sometimes felt forced, raising the question of whether someone who fitted the role more naturally would have been a better choice. Equally, Flynn was well suited to the role when playing the part of a menacing and bullying older brother, but he didn’t quite manage to convey Lee’s more subtle desire to settle down into a life of quietude.
The supporting roles of Saul, a Hollywood director, and Lee and Austin’s mother are well played but lacked the depth that Sam Shepard wrote into the two brothers as the protagonists. While the play is sharp and witty, it also carries an important message about the American dream and how it is achieved. Unlike Steinbeck’s portrayal of the struggle for success in his novella Of Mice and Men , where, if it is at all achievable, the best method of attaining it is through companionship and working together, Shepard speaks of the opposite. His mantra is that direct competition, even between brothers, is the only way of achieving the dream. Other key differences divide the two works; Steinbeck considers the huge disadvantages one can face when seeking the dream if one is black, disabled or female. In stark contrast to this, Shepard focuses solely on the ‘average’ American. However, it should not be said that Shepard ignores injustices completely. Lee and Austin, despite being brothers, have strikingly different backgrounds. Austin is highly educated whereas Lee might as well have been brought up in the desert. Austin’s suggestion that Saul had lost a bet points towards the corruption and dishonesty rife within the US government, as well as being a clear reference to the luck that is so desperately needed to attain the American dream. Without his sharp wit, Shepard’s writing could easily be likened to the dark and depressing tragedies of Shakespeare, but thanks to his ability to incorporate black humour he allows you to enjoy darkly comic absurdities, making this play an enjoyable and poignant experience.
THEATRE TRIPS ARE, SAYS ALEX HAWES , A GREAT WAY TO ENCOURAGE GCSE STUDENTS TO CONSIDER TAKING ENGLISH LITERATURE FOR A LEVEL
I t was that time of year again, and I found myself going through the usual process of trying to sell English Literature A level to my GCSE set. They responded by challenging me to prove that the course was great. So we met at lunchtime each Friday for a number of weeks to read short stories and poetry of the kind that they might encounter in Year 12. Our enjoyment of these sessions prompted me to form Middle School Further English, an official group for boys who love English and may wish to pursue it beyond GCSE. Over two years on, there are now two Middle School Further English cohorts, one for Year 10 and another for Year 11. The former meet each Wednesday lunchtime and the latter each Friday. Both meetings regularly attract between 25 and 30 boys, and the great literature we have enjoyed together has included F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short story ‘The Diamond as Big as the Ritz’, Brian Friel’s play Translations , and J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye . We have also gone to the theatre in the evening together on a number of occasions, most recently seeing Death of a Salesman and All Quiet on the Western Front . The review below is by Alexander Lewis, one of the first ever members of Middle School Further English. Alexander writes about the production of Sam Shepard’s True West which we saw at the Vaudeville Theatre. It starred Kit Harington, an actor known to many as Jon Snow in Game of Thrones .
THE SET AND SOUND DESIGN IS WONDERFUL, FROM THE TACKY 80s CHAIRS TO THE INCESSANT CLICKING OF CRICKETS
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