4th Wall Theatre Kicks Off 2016-17 Season With TRUE WEST

4th Wall Theatre Company (formerly Stark Naked Theatre Company) opens its 2016-2017 season on September 9th with Sam Shepard's Tony-nominated masterpiece, True West-a modern American classic exploring themes of sibling rivalry, art as commerce, and what it means to 'be a man.' Like a runaway train, this dark comedy about two brothers and their mutual resentment takes audiences on a thrill ride into the dark side of the human psyche, with laughs and unexpected moments of revelation along the way. In its world premiere, the San Francisco Chronicle noted that True West is "clear, funny, naturalistic. It's also opaque, terrifying, surrealistic. If that sounds contradictory, you're on to one aspect of Shepard's winning genius-the ability to make you think your watching one thing while at the same time he's presenting another."

A finalist for the 1983 Pulitzer Price in Drama, True West was famously revived by Steppenwolf Theatre in both Chicago and New York with John Malkovich and Gary Sinise portraying the lead roles, and more recently by New York's Circle in the Square, starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C. Reilly, alternating the lead roles. During Steppenwolf's revival, Malkovich shared this insight about the play: "People kept saying True West is so commercial, but I think it's a more personal play than most of his. Shepard, like Lee [the drifter brother], defies all the things we're told we have to do to be successful...Lee is the side of Shepard that's always being strangled but never quite killed."

Directed by Kim Tobin-Lehl, 4th Wall Theatre's production of True West features a strong ensemble cast comprised of Philip Lehl, Nick Farco, and Drake Simpson and the incomparable Kevin Rigdon in charge of set and light design. Over the course of his illustrious 36-year career, Rigdon has designed more than 360 productions and received extensive recognition for his artistry, including two Tony Award nominations, two American Theatre Wing Design Awards, and four Drama Desk Award nominations, among others. Currently the Alley Theatre's Associate Director for Design and the head of the Graduate Design program at the University of Houston, Rigdon began his career as the Resident Designer for the renowned Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago. Joining the theatre at its inception in 1974, Ridgon designed over 110 Steppenwolf productions, including its acclaimed revival of True West.

Reflecting on his approach to designing True West for 4th Wall Theatre, Rigdon noted that "this is the first time I have revisited the play since the Steppenwolf production. It is interesting going back to it, digging into the play. Like any show I do, I always go into it as though it is the first time. It is important to me that I don't impose a previous production on the project today. I am working with a different group of artists, and I am certainly a much different person and artist today than I was 34 years ago. I like to think that I have grown artistically and intellectually over all this time. That said, so much came back so quickly when I went back to the script. Was it hard to read the play and not see Gary [Sinise] and John [Malkovich]? Sure, but more importantly, I saw the space we are going to work in. I saw Drake [Simpson] in that space bringing what he has to offer to [the role of] Lee. For me, the starting point is the ground plan - the relationship of the actors and the environment to the audience and vice versa. One aspect of the Steppenwolf production I was never satisfied with was what we saw of the world outside the house. This time around I think that I have a better understanding of what the world outside the house means to the characters and the play. We will see if I am right."

With the genius of Sam Shepard in the experienced hands of 4th Wall Theatre Company (formerly Stark Naked Theatre Company), it's certain that Houston audiences are in for an exhilarating ride. Don't miss True West, directed by Kim Tobin-Lehl and starring Philip Lehl, Nick Farco, and Drake Simpson, with set and lighting design by two-time Tony nominee Kevin Rigdon. Previewing on September 8th, True West opens on September 9th, and runs through Friday, September 30th, 2016. Please note that there is no performance on Saturday, September 31st. Performances will be held at 4th Wall's STUDIO 101, located at Spring Street Studios, 1824 Spring Street, Houston, Texas, 77007. Regular show times are as follows: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3:00 pm, Wednesday (September 28th only) at 7:30 pm, and a special "Pay What You Can" performance on Monday, September 26th at 7:30 pm. Individual tickets (priced at $29 for adults, $23 for seniors and $15 for students) and $49 for Premier Reserved Seating are available for all performances. To purchase individual tickets for True West-or to become season ticket subscribers with a significant cost per play savings-please visit 4th Wall Theatre Company's website at 4thwalltheatreco.com or call 832.866.6514.

Cast and Creative Team of True West*

Nick Farco (Austin) recently relocated from New York City and is now a Houston-based actor and teacher. Houston credits include: Small Mouth Sounds at 4th Wall Theatre (Broadway World Nomination), The Other Place, The Harassment of Iris Malloy (Staged Reading), and Around the World in 80 Days at The Alley Theatre, The Book of Maggie (World Premiere) at Stages Repertory Theatre, and Main Street Theatre's upcoming production of Wolf Hall. NY Credits: The Death of Frank at The Players Theatre, Patriot Acts at The Abingdon Theatre, AKA Al Parker at The Young Playwrights Studio, and Faye Drummond at The Actor's Studio. Regional credits include: Romeo & Juliet at Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, Owed to My First Love at Premiere Stages, Born Yesterday at Findlay Theatre, and other productions at The Kitchen Theatre, New Jersey Playwrights Theatre, and Bucks County Playhouse. TV: Boardwalk Empire. Film: Evan Almighty. BFA from Ithaca College and MFA from Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts. Nick is the Theatre Director/Teacher at Polly Ryon Middle School, was a teaching artist for The Alley Theatre, and will be teaching at The Humphrey's School for the Performing Arts at T.U.T.S.

Drake Simpson (Lee) has previously appeared in 4th Wall Theatre productions of Midsummer Night's Dream, God of Carnage, Body Awareness, and Dinner with Friends. Other Houston credits include: Red Light Winter, Fault Lines, Among The Thugs, The Aliens and The Spaghetti Code with Horse Head Theatre (for which he is also a founding member); Hotel Fuck, Tamalalia 2000, and Roberto Zucco with Catastrophic Theatre; The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Diety, The Laramie Project, Shakespeare's R&J, and Heart of A Woman with Stages; American Buffalo with The Landing Theatre Company; The Man Who Had Three Arms and This is Our Youth with Atomic Café; and Measure for Measure, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Much Ado About Nothing with the Houston Shakespeare Festival. Los Angeles credits include Recent Tragic Events, Kith and Kin, The Baby Dance and Zastrozzi. Film/Television credits include: Notes From The Underbelly/ABC, Todd's Coma/Happy Madison Productions, Canooks/Those Damn Canadians and the independent films The Riot Act, Dirty Mary, Worms, and Palps.

Philip Lehl (Saul Kimmer) is a Houston-based actor, director, and teacher. Co-Founder and co-Artistic Director of 4th Wall Theatre Company, Philip has appeared in the company's productions of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Stage Kiss, The God Game, The Winter's Tale, Faith Healer, Macbeth, Dinner With Friends and Debt Collectors. As a director, Philip's productions include: Body Awareness (at 4th Wall Theatre), Almost, Maine and Reckless (with Brave Dog Theatre), Art (at Generations), Ferdinand the Bull (at Stages Repertory Theatre), On the Town (co-director, Bayou City Concert Musicals) and Debt Collectors (co-director, 4th Wall Theatre Company). On Broadway, Philip's acting credits include roles in Blood Brothers and The Kentucky Cycle, the Off-Broadway production of Hundreds of Hats as well as the first National Tour of Titanic, the Musical. Since arriving in Texas in 2001, Philip has been a mainstay of the Houston theatre scene, and he was most recently seen in the Alley Theatre's production of The Nether. Philip's extensive list of credits also includes: Oh, the Humanity, Yankee Tavern, I Am My Own Wife, Mr. Marmalade, Lady, Souvenir, Amy's View, The Pavilion, and Dirty Blonde with Stages Repertory Theatre; over thirty productions (and former resident company member) with the Alley Theatre, including: Clybourne Park, The Pillowman, The Farnsworth Invention, Eurydice, The Crucible, The Exonerated, Our Lady of 121st Street, The Mousetrap, Hamlet and The Invention of Love; Main Street Theatre's Arcadia; as well as King John, Romeo and Juliet, Love's Labours Lost, Julius Caesar, and Cymbeline with the Houston Shakespeare Festival. As a current member of the Classical Theatre Company's resident acting company, Philip has appeared in productions of Ghosts, The Tempest, Uncle Vanya, and The Merchant of Venice. With Theatre-Under-The-Stars (TUTS), Philip has appeared in A Wonderful Life, The Sound of Music, and one memorable performance as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. Other productions include: 12 Angry Men with AD Players; Our Town, Bat Boy, and Spring Awakening with Generations; Turn of the Screw at Unity Theatre, as well as several productions with the Bayou City Concert Musicals (BCCM), including: On the Town, Fiorello, Assassins, and She Loves Me. Philip has worked with numerous regional theatres throughout the country, including: St. Louis Repertory, Cleveland Play House, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Missouri Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Portland Stage Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, The New Harmony Theatre and Weston Playhouse. Film and Television credits include Tripwire, The Nanny, Martial Law and Hollywood Off-Ramp. Philip graduated from the Drama Division of the Juilliard School and Drake University, and trained with the National Theatre Institute as well as the Moscow Art Theatre School.

Kim Tobin-Lehl (Director) is co-Founder and co-Artistic Director of 4th Wall Theatre Company, Previously directed for 4th Wall Theatre/Stark Naked Theatre, Small Mouth Sounds, Ho Ho Humbug 2.0, A Midsummer Night's Dream & A Winter's Tale. She has directing credits in both NYC and in LA. Kim has acted in the company's productions of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Small Mouth Sounds, Stage Kiss, Ho Ho Humbug, The God Game, Faith Healer, Macbeth, All Girls, God of Carnage, Body Awareness, Dinner with Friends, and Debt Collectors. A Houston native, Kim has a BA in acting and directing from the University of Houston (including training with Jose' Quintero, Edward Albee & Sidney Berger) and, in addition to appearing in numerous regional productions, she won the "Actress Excellence" award at the Texas College Play Festival for her portrayal of Sarah in Children of a Lesser God. After relocating to New York she trained with/at a number of elite teachers and conservatory's. These include, but are not limited to; Stella Adler & The Stella Adler Conservatory, Gene Frankel, Circle In The Square, The Shakespeare Lab at The Public Theatre and Seth Barrish & Lee Brock at The Barrow Group. In NY Kim became an officer with the New Mercury Theatre Company, where (among other roles), she produced and starred (as Sally) in the 1995 revival of Sam Shepard's A Lie of the Mind. Kim later became the Artistic Director of the Blue Sphere East theatre company (the New York sister company to the acclaimed Blue Sphere ALLIANCE THEATRE company based in Los Angeles). Her favorite Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway credits include: Talk to Me Like the Rain..., A Streetcar Named Desire, The Fifth of July, Fool for Love, Savage in Limbo, The Smell of the Crowd, Bed, Bawd & Beyond, Impassioned Embraces (Emotional Recall), Ctrl, Alt, Delete and Trust and the Barrow Group's production of Short Stuff Two and their production of her original one-woman show, Inside Out. Kim spent over three years in Los Angeles studying with SAndy Marshall and Larry Moss, and highlights of her LA theatre productions include: the world premiere of Children of Shame, The Interrogation, Masseur, Baby with the Bathwater, Check to Check, and The Foreigner. Kim's film credits include roles in The Big Lebowski, The Alarmist, Ash, and Sex Maniac, as well as the television series Sunset Beach. In addition to her extensive body of work, Kim is a highly sought-after acting teacher, and her studio (based on the teaching principles of Meisner, Adler and The Barrow Group) offers an array of courses (from beginner to advanced levels) in acting technique, improvisation, script analysis and scene study. More details about Kim's background and her current class offerings can be found at her studio website: www.kimtobinactingstudio.com.

Kevin Rigdon (Set & Lighting Design) Design credits include the Broadway productions of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Old Neighborhood, Buried Child, The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Song of Jacob Zulu, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Grapes of Wrath, Speed the Plow, Our Town, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Caretaker and Ghetto. London credits include Waiting For Godot, You Never Can Tell and Orphans on the West End; Speed the Plow and The Grapes of Wrath for The Royal National Theatre; One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Man Who Came to Dinner at the Barbican; American Buffalo, and Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants. Productions for the Peter Hall Company include The Importance of Being Earnest, Measure For Measure, Waiting For Godot, Much Ado About Nothing, and Man and Superman. Off-Broadway, Mr. Rigdon's designs include Distant Fires, Orphans, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, American Buffalo, Oleanna, Edmond, Prairie Du Chein, The Shawl, Road, Balm in Gilead, And a Nightingale Sang..., and True West. He was the resident designer for Steppenwolf Theatre from 1976 to 1997 during which he designed the scenery, lighting, and costumes for more than 110 productions. He is currently the Associate Director/Design for Houston's Alley Theatre where he has designed more than 50 productions. Mr. Rigdon is the recipient of two Tony Award nominations, seven Joseph Jefferson Awards, two American Theatre Wing Design Awards, and the Drama-Logue Award. Mr. Rigdon is the curator for the American National Exhibit for the 2015 Prague Quadrennial Sceneography Exhibition and he serves on the board of directors for USITT. In addition to his design credits, Mr. Rigdon is the John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Theatre and Head of Graduate Design at the University of Houston.

* 4th Wall Theatre Company productions are funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance.