by Jason Gong. @TrashMannequin.
PROVIDENCE, RI - Ticket sales have spiked for a local production of Sam Shepherd’s True West after the play’s lead actors - in a nod to the classic practice of swapping roles for each performance - began destroying the play’s iconic typewriter with a different sick-ass karate move each night, sources confirmed.
“Traditionally the typewriter is destroyed with a golf club in each performance,” explained David Hunt, local actor, accountant, and Brazilian Jujitsu enthusiast. “One night, inspiration just struck, and instead of picking up that club, I performed an open palm strike, shattering it into what must have been a million pieces. The crowd went nuts and that’s when I knew we were on to something.”
Quentin Moore, the show's other lead and a Tiger Schulman alumnus, felt an immediate connection to the creatively violent approach.
“When I saw the raw animosity that David was able to bring to the role of Lee by using his bare hands instead of the prop golf club, I knew I’d have to do the same the next night,” noted Moore while trying on a new karategi. “I had to find a way to go deeper, tap into something more primal, y’know? That’s why I chokeslammed that fucking hunk of metal into the stage so hard its keys flew off like god damn shurikens. That’s live theatre for ya.”
Director Margaret Young has welcomed the actors’ violent adjustments to the classic play.
“The rivalry between the two brothers is the driving force of the show, and nothing captures the spirit of that like two fully grown men who keep trying to one up each other’s dope karate moves,” claimed Young. “They’ve also started calling me sensei, which honestly makes me feel really good about myself and will probably go on my resume.”
At press time, Hunt and Moore were spotted being strapped into stage harnesses by a team of visually nervous stagehands as the two actors polished an unsheathed, hand-crafted katana under the theater’s spotlight.
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