Sam Rockwell and Nina Arianda  Photo credits Joan Marcus

 

                                   By David Schultz

Sam Shepard’s Mythical American West; seedy motel, wounded couple, raw sex, seventy-five minutes of overwrought angst

Originally produced Off Broadway in 1983, this Sam Shepard work made waves for its intense, poetic existential take on a couple trying to repair the broken shards of their relationship. Playing on an intimate stage, this rollercoaster ride to hell was an emotional sucker punch in the gut. Now enlarged to a much larger Broadway venue with a pitch perfect seedy motel set designed by Dane Laffrey it still stings, but its bite is much tamer now.

 

The seriously disturbed couple at hand, Eddie (Sam Rockwell) and May (Nina Arianda) are impeccably rendered. These two exquisite performers are unassailable in their raw, intense love-hate relationship on view.

 

We are in classic Shepard territory…. the mythical West, somewhere on the edge of the Mojave desert, decaying motel room, iconic characters attacking each other physically and emotionally, overwrought existential musings, mystical reverberations, spectral visitations from the dead that double as a Greek chorus describing portentous visions of past indiscretions. Much of what happens in this play is internal, and one has to infer from careful attention to detail all the missing parts and connect the dots.

The play starts off with a quietly intense opening scene. A frozen tableau is set before us. May is seen slumped over her bed, hands in her face, hair falling downward, legs akimbo, and her body frozen in obvious emotional trauma. She is not alone. Eddie is standing nearby watching her, stony and silent, he hesitates and waits to speak. This rodeo cowboy and stuntman can hardly breathe. It is apparent that a God-awful scene has just transpired, but to what extent we can barely fathom. He is back again in her life, to once again start up anew with their relationship, and become the couple that he imagines they can be. Renewing their obvious passion seems easy and inevitable to him, but one senses that this couple has played this scene together in innumerable permutations. Not unlike two boxers in the ring, they both sit at opposite ends of the ring and await the bell to resume the fight.

The minimal plot strands are revealed bit by bit. May comes to life and pleads with Eddie to leave her motel room. A new, potential beau is arriving shortly and she needs to get ready. Much simmering anger rises to the surface, Eddie starts to leave, May lets him get as far as the door, and pleads for him to stay…if only for another minute. This happens over and over…”go”, “stay”, “no…. go now”…”where are you going ”?  “Get out now”! “Please stay”!  It’s obvious from the get-go this intense couple have issues. It is overtly schematic in construction. If he actually left…well then the play would be fifteen minutes in duration. The constant state of emotional flux is involving, but tiring, to watch knowing that these two damned souls are perfect for each other. May slips into a sultry tight red dress, to impress her impending date. Eventually he does knock on the door, a gangly fellow with no idea what is in store for him. Martin (Tom Pelphrey) can’t quite fathom who or what Eddie represents in May’s life. But slowly, he comes to realize that these two are passionately doomed in a to-death-struggle of desire. Many monologues, external and internal ensue. On the outermost edge of the stage sits The Old Man (Gordon Joseph Weiss), an enigmatic figure. Is he May’s father or Eddie’s? It is for us to infer. A quickly referenced mention that he might be father to both is brought up, and then quickly buried. The smoldering sexual predatory actions of both May and Eddie further ratchet up the ante. Verbal rants and emotional spasms turn physical at key moments with these two brave actors banging and throwing each other around with furious abandon. Director Daniel Aukin perfectly calibrates the rollercoaster verbal rhythms of the work. Both Ms. Arianda and Mr. Rockwell find the core of their characters and play off each other beautifully. The inevitable conclusion is casually presented. The emotional payoff is actually so internal that if you are not looking you will miss it. These two inexorably entwined lovers are doomed to repeat their patterns over and over. This enigmatic play leaves the last strands open to interpretation, and it is up to the viewer to discern how, and if these two dueling lovers actually find their elusive bliss.

 

Fool for Love

Friedman Theatre, 261 West 47^th Street

Foolforlovebroadway.com

Telecharge.com  or 212 239-6200

Running Time Seventy Five Minutes  / No Intermission

Playing Through December 13^th