Austin is a screenwriter with a simple life; house, family and producer! As True West starts Austin is doing "research" for a screenplay he is writing. He thinks of himself as a simple laborer, with a simple life and a simple family--until his brother, Lee shows up! At the start, they tend to butt heads a little...Austin is square and he knows it. However, there is a slow transformation in Austin's character that charts the evolution of the play as a whole. The failure of his movie deal makes Austin become more and more like his rambunctious brother, and eventually, the two effectively switch roles. Instead of the hardworking screenwriter, Austin actually becomes the drunken thief. Lying drunk on the floor, Austin screams at Lee while Lee is trying to write a screenplay. Austin also becomes obsessed with the idea of moving to the desert with Lee, as he is no longer able to take solace in his normal life. When Lee tries to go the desert without Austin, Austin strangles Lee with a phone cord, almost killing him. From a symbolic point of view, Austin can be seen as one half of the creative process. He is the methodical, diligent aspect, while and Lee is the creative, inspired side. Together they form the basic ingredients of an artist and together they are able to write the beginnings of a screenplay.
Lee
Lee is the play's representative of the Old West. He is a drunk, a thief, prone to acts of violence, and generally combative in most situations. Before the action of the play he spent a few months out on the desert with a fighting pit bull. However, Lee is also the comic center of the play. His nagging is a hilarious counterpoint to stuffy Austin. At first, Lee seems to exist only to make his brother's life a living hell. He refuses to let Austin get any work done, then demands the keys to Austin's car to make the rounds of their mother's neighborhood to check out the houses he intends to rob. Furthermore, the physical threat Lee represents becomes evident when he suddenly lunges at Austin during an argument about their father near the beginning of the play. From that point forward there is almost an electric tension of the threat of further physical violence.
Lee is not only a physical threat to Austin, however. He also weasels his way into a movie deal with Austin's producer, and actually manages to pull the rug out from under Austin's project. Lee pulls this off through a bit of gambling on the golf course with the producer. After he seals the movie deal Lee begins to pull another coup, becoming more and more like his brother Austin. Night finds Lee sitting at the kitchen table pecking away at the typewriter with one finger, while Austin pesters Lee just as Lee had done to Austin. Eventually, however, Lee regresses, realizing that the respectable life is not the one for him. His decision to go back to the desert is not a surprising one. Lee is the most constantly surprising and vivid characters in the play, and the catalyst for most the action and the laugh track as well.Lee is the play's representative of the Old West. He is a drunk, a thief, prone to acts of violence, and generally combative in most situations. Before the action of the play he spent a few months out on the desert with a fighting pit bull. However, Lee is also the comic center of the play. His nagging is a hilarious counterpoint to stuffy Austin. At first, Lee seems to exist only to make his brother's life a living hell. He refuses to let Austin get any work done, then demands the keys to Austin's car to make the rounds of their mother's neighborhood to check out the houses he intends to rob. Furthermore, the physical threat Lee represents becomes evident when he suddenly lunges at Austin during an argument about their father near the beginning of the play. From that point forward there is almost an electric tension of the threat of further physical violence.
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