PLAY OF THE DAY! Today's Play: TRUE WEST by Sam Shepard

During this time when productions all over the world have been put on pause, we are coming together to celebrate plays that have left their mark on theater history.

This week we will be focusing on the plays of Sam Shepard.

Today's play, True West.

Some critics consider true True West to be the third in a trilogy including Shepard's Curse of the Starving Class and Buried Child, while others consider it part of a quintet which includes Fool for Love and A Lie of the Mind. True West was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1983.

True West follows the plight of two estranged brothers as they reconnect, and the struggle that it brings.

True West premiered in San Francisco in 1980. It moved Off-Broadway that same year, and starred Tommy Lee Jones and Peter Boyle. It was then produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1982 starring Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. True West was brought to Broadway in 2000 starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly. Both Hoffman and Reilly received a Tony nomination. The 2000 revival was also nominated for Best Play and Best Director at the Tony Awards.

It was revived on Broadway in 2019 starring Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano.

A filmed version of True West, recorded in front of a live audience starred Bruce Willis and Chad Smith in 2002.