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4-H Club
By Sam Shepard
Directed by Hans Fleischmann
Cowboy Mouth
By Sam Shepard
Directed by Richard Cotovsky
Produced by Mary Arrchie Theatre
At Angel Island
735 W. Sheridan Rd.
Chicago, IL
Call 773-871-0442, tickets $18 - $20 - $22
Thursdays thru Saturdays at 8 pm
Sundays at 7 pm
Running time is 1 hour 45 minutes with intermission
Through August 5, 2007
Raw, gritty early Sam Shepard one-acts unfold as a lesson in naturalist acting
Mary-Arrchie Theatre Co has chosen to revisit their inaugural production of two Sam Shepard one-acts, Cowboy Mouth and 4-H Club. These early Shepard works are raw, gritty featuring dirty, low-life characters filled with angst, fears and isolation. Loneliness and despair filled the world of these losers. These plays necessities fearless players willing to grind out raw, sensual actions.
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In 4-H Club, a 1965 Shepard drama, we meet three men, Joe (Richard Cotovsky), John (Karl Potthoff) and Bob (Howie Johnson) inhabiting a cluttered, dirty shack filled with junk. The three dirty-faced middle aged men are wound a tad too tight as they emotionally create and explode enough fantasies to make their existence meaningful. This is an absurdist work where breaking coffee cups, chasing one another around the shack to bite on a apple make personal survival happen for these odd ball characters. Each one has their special moments of rage as each fosters their personal paranoia thus selling their absolute belief system (no matter how crazy) to the others. This is an engagingly nerve-racking piece that features terrificly honest work from Karl Potthoff, Howie Johnson and Richard Cotovsky. Director Hans Fleischmann allows each their of their fears to paralyze them.
Cowboy Mouth, a 1971 semi-autobiographical Shepard drama, finds Slim (Hans Fleischmann) and Cavale (Colleen Moore) trapped in a dingy motel room in Texas. Cavale has kidnapped Slim in order to make him into a rock star so she can fulfill her dream of creating the next rock and roll savior. Slim is a filthy slob badly in need of a shower and a shave who asks: "What am I doing here? I don't know who I am anymore. My wife's left me. She's gone to Brooklyn with the kid and left me. And here I am stuck with you." Is Shepard commenting on his life?
Slim struggles with his role in the meaning of being an artist, musician and lover. Hans Fleischmann is powerfully truthful and brave here. Slim is the cowboy, reluctant rocker who isn’t sure who and what he is about. Colleen Moore is eerie as the eternal believer that she’ll find her savior. The weird chemistry between Moore and Fleischmann works to engage us through Shepard’s odyssey.
Sam Shepard fans and those who love raw absurdist theatre will enjoy these two gritty pieces. With brave acting and a genuine rawness, an intoxicating show awaits.
Recommended
Tom Williams
Tom99@chicagocritic.com for comments
Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast
Date Reviewed: June 28. 2007
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