Fool for Love

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

They’re joined at the hip with claws digging in their throats. Passion swirls between them while anger tears them apart.

Germinal Stage Denver currently plays Sam Shepard’s 1983 Obie Award winning on the skids Western drama, Fool For Love. Scheduled to reopen this Fall at the American Airlines Theatre in New York, Ed Harris will direct. Harris won the Obie Award for Outstanding actor in the role of Eddie in the original off-Broadway production.

Michael Gunst as Eddie and Emily Paton Davies as May in Germinal Stage Denver’s production of Fool for Love.

It would be difficult to fathom that the fall New York production could be any better than GSD’s absorbing emotionally-rattled production.

In a sleazy motel on the edge of the Mojave Desert Eddie (Michael Gunst) tracks down his long-time, on-again off-again love of his life, May (Emily Paton Davies). Living in a wind blown trailer in the middle of nowhere while Eddie disappeared for months at a time drove May to find a new life. Their intertwined love runs deep to the core, while their physical verbal war of the worlds leaves their teeth on edge and emotional turmoil digging its own grave.

Gunst and Davies know their characters well, wearing Eddie’s and May’s soul on their sleeves. Fraught with slices of humor, their juicy attacks on each other tear at each other with sharp-edged swords.

May wants Eddie to leave, but when he heads for the door, she begs him to stay. They need each other, but they can’t live with each other.

With a stunning technique, Shepard writes in a ghost like figure formed in the imagination and memories of Eddie and May. Sitting center stage in the front in a rocking chair, with his back to the audience, the Old Man, delectably played by Michael Leopard, drinks, with a casual air of interested observation. The Old Man periodically interacts with the two feuding characters.

The Old man has reason to be there and reason to be involved. He is their Father. Leopard makes it difficult at times to keep the eyes off him. His body language, intent in the character, keeps him glued to the struggle playing out before him.

A newcomer to the Denver area, Chuck Wigginton plays the naive gentleman who has come to take May to the movies. This won’t be the last time Wigginton will be seen on a Denver stage. Dressed in a polite brown suit with hat, he gives Martin innocent discomfort stepping into the explosive arena. Baffled, confused, uncomfortable, Martin doesn’t know whether to stay or leave. Wigginton bares Martin’s embarrassing turmoil. Up against the verbal biting, caustic, stabbing Eddie, you just know Martin wants to dig a hole and disappear.

Directed and designed by Ed Baierlein, the atmosphere created by the set screams seedy, skin crawling, cheap motel. Sallie Diamond’s eye for costumes visually describes the characters. Eddie looks like a dust in his mouth cowboy including duct tape across one of his well-worn boots with his very well-worn cowboy jeans. Gunst knows how to wear spurs, and shows experience throwing a rope. A small technical aspect, perhaps, but extremely important for his character to be believable. Not only is Eddie believable; so is May, the Old Man and Martin. This is not just an awesome 70 minutes production; it is a masterpiece of Shepard’s work.

Martin stutters in his shoes as Eddie spins the tale of how this incestuous relationship could happen. As Eddie remembers previous events, he sees into his memory clouded with imagination. Gunst’s gaze so intent, you can see what he sees in the distant past. May finds it necessary to correct Eddie’s memory to finish the story. Complications tangle the truth, providing new information for the Old Man in devastation. There in the middle stands Martin not knowing whether to stand on his head or run in terror.

Miss Fool For Love, and you’ll miss out on the whole rhyme and reason of what theatre is all about.