Ethan Hawke, Paul Dano returning to Broadway in Sam Shepard’s True West
Ethan Hawke and Paul Dano are teaming up for a new Broadway production of Sam Shepard’s Tony- and Pulitizer-Prize nominated play True West, Roundabout Theatre Company announced Tuesday.
The play centers on two brothers — screenwriter Austin (Dano) and lowlife Lee (Hawke) — who wrestle with big issues and each other while holed up in their mother’s California home. It was last seen on Broadway in 2000, with Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly alternating roles during the run.
Hawke was a longtime collaborator and friend of Shepard, who died last year at the age of 73. (You can read his tribute to the actor and playwright here). He also costarred with Dano in the film Taking Lives and directed him Off-Broadway in the play Things We Want.
Dano made his Broadway debut at age 11 in the 1995 revival of A Month in the Country, and more recently starred in the 2010 production of A Free Man of Color. Hawke’s Broadway credits include roles in revivals of The Seagull, Henry IV, and Macbeth, and he was nominated for a Tony Award in 2007 for his performance in Tom Stoppard’s The Coast of Utopia.
True West will be directed by James Macdonald (The Children). Previews are due to begin on Dec. 27 ahead of an official opening on Jan. 24, 2019, at the American Airlines Theatre in New York. Additional cast and creative team members will be announced at a later date.
