Through the course of the play, we discover that each brother longs for what he thinks the other brother has, not knowing the difficult nature of each others’ circumstances.  Austin wants the tension free, tough life of the desert.  Lee wouldn’t mind some economic freedom, gained through his brother’s trade, writing his own screenplay.

Eddie Staver III, still my favorite Quad Cities actor, portrays Lee with his usual on stage strengths.  His Lee is appropriately foreboding and threatening.  Eddie throws himself entirely into the role, never flinching, making for utter believability.

But Andrew Harvey’s Austin is more nuanced, as Harvey pulls off the all too often unseen task of portraying a character’s changes as the play progresses.  He’s neurotic, timid, reserved.  But, thanks to a personal crisis at seeing his brother’s success at his own trade, which he’s struggled to succeed in, Austin moves more into a drunken, less staunch craze.  It’s a wonder to see.  Harvey’s Austin at the end of the show is not the same Austin were first meet when the non-literal curtain opens.

Harrison’s strength, and sometime weakness, is its space.  The small room feels even smaller, cramped when flats are used to create a stage space.  Fortunately, True West makes use of the room’s existing walls.  It makes for an added intimacy, almost as if we, the audience, are sitting in the living room with Lee and Austin, observing their lives.  In this way, the space is Harrison’s strength, making for a theater experience like few other theaters are able to offer in the Quad Cities.

True West runs January 29, 30, 31 and February 5, 6, 7 at 7:30 p.m. at 1601 Harrison Street in Davenport.  Tickets are $15 and can be reserved by calling the theater at (309) 235-1654 or through the theater’s website - harrisonhilltop.com.