'Fool for Love:' Love Me Knot

"Fool for Love"

Written by Sam Shepard; directed by Bridget Kathleen O'Leary; scenic and properties design by Ada E. Smith; costume design by Eric Propp; lighting design by Christopher Brusberg; sound design by Matt Griffin; fight director, Meron Langsner; stage manager, Amy Francis Schott

Cast in alphabetical order:

Martin, Andrew Dufresne; The Old Man, Joseph Finneral; May, Stacy Fischer; Eddie, Timothy John Smith

Performances: Now through April 5, Downstage @ New Rep, New Repertory Theatre, Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, Mass.

Tickets: 617-923-8487 or www.newrep.org

Playwright Sam Shepard could never be accused of being a wide-eyed romantic. Yet, the tragic misfits at the heart of his amorously twisted Fool for Love do have a strangely tender appeal beneath all the swearing, punching, drinking and menace. In a taut revival currently enjoying a spirited run at the black box theater Downstage @ New Rep in Watertown, Mass., all of the sturm und drang, humanity and sadness of Shepard's fractured fairy tale come vividly to life, thrusting raw nerves and borderline sociopathy directly into the face of an audience that is seated all too uncomfortably - and deliberately - close to the action.

Eddie (Timothy John Smith), a tightly wired and unpredictable rodeo rider, has driven 2480 miles to bring May (Stacy Fischer), the angry, damaged and ambivalent object of his obsession, back home with him to his tumble down trailer in Wyoming. May, who is desperately trying to stay clean, sober, employed and away from Eddie, insists on staying in her dingy Mojave Desert motel room instead. As the broken pair alternately reject and cling to each other, the unspeakable pain of their shared past surfaces, revealing a tortured bond of love and deception that seals their inability to ever enjoy warmth, commitment, trust and true intimacy.

Ever present, observing and occasionally commenting on the tumultuous pas de deux between Eddie and May is a mysterious Old Man (Joseph Finneral), a hovering ghost from the couple's past who symbolizes their inability to escape the sins of his wandering infidelities. Idealized by Eddie and scorned by May, the Old Man represents the endless cycle of attraction, abandonment and denial that makes all three souls starved for connection but unable to bond in any meaningful way.

Under the smart direction of Bridget Kathleen O'Leary, the cast succeeds in making these rough and tragic figures sympathetic and even funny. Finneral evokes sadness for a man whose adolescent adherence to a romantic illusion keeps him from taking responsibility for his selfish actions even in old age. Fischer reveals a hidden strength beneath her edgy desperation that allows her emotionally torn May to choose self-preservation over self-destruction. Smith spans a range of emotions from hair-trigger violence to heart-breaking vulnerability. During an inebriated discourse with May's dumbfounded date for the evening Martin (Andrew Dufresne), Smith is a playful and almost charming bully. When his mood snaps, however, he can suddenly be a frighteningly impulsive volcano. Ultimately Smith's Eddie is a needy boy who wants very much to be a man, but he has no road map on how to get there. His overwhelming desire to see himself as a faithful protector for May is as affecting as it is delusional.

Shephard's frequently explored themes of self-deception, alienation, and cyclical family dysfunction are represented vividly in this New Rep production of Fool for Love. His metaphorical language is often skillfully translated into dramatic business, adding tangible dimension to unspoken subtext. One striking example that occurs during an exchange between Eddie and May is Smith's obsessive use of a lariat which he rhythmically and repeatedly tosses and tightens over a bed post. With each increasingly animated swing, constricting, and relaxing of the noose, Eddie symbolically captures and then releases his hold on May. The rope is at once their pattern and their history - their inability either to commit or let go and the inescapable secret that binds them together irrevocably no matter how many years or miles they put between themselves and their past.

Set and properties designer Ada E. Smith creates an appropriately seedy no-tell motel, while Christopher Brusberg's lighting and Matt Griffin's sound switch from reality to fantasy effectively. Meron Langsner's fight sequences are remarkably true to life given how close the audience is to the playing area. Eric Propp's costumes are subdued Southwestern, with one stunning exception: a bright red cocktail dress that suggests May's last chance at a better life as she seeks normalcy on a date with a bland but gentle man.

Fool for Love concludes its limited run on April 5. For tickets call 617-923-8487 or visit www.newrep.org.

PHOTOS by Christopher McKenzie: Stacy Fischer as May, Timothy John Smith as Eddie; Andrew Dufresne as Martin, Stacy Fischer and Timothy John Smith