Review: SHANE at Guthrie Theater

A mysterious man, dressed all in black, arrives on a farm in 1889 Wyoming, looking to wash up and be on his way but something compels him to stay.

The Guthrie Theater’s newest world premiere, in collaboration with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Shane is a gripping, mile a minute production. From the moment that Shane stumbles on to the Starrett family farm, dusty from his journey, the audience is shown a life that few have seen before.

Commissioned by the Guthrie Theater, to adapt Jack Schaefer’s 1949 novel, Karen Zacarias has woven a story that highlights the humanity of the characters as they navigate a hostile world. Granted land in Wyoming, by the federal government, Joe and Marian Starrett are raising their young son, Bobby on a farmstead that they plan to create a life upon. Unfortunately, for the Starretts, a ruthless land baron has been descending on other farmers to claim their land for his own business plans.

As the Starrett’s are seemingly headed for the loss of their home, a mysterious rider appears. Taking in the stranger for the night, they come to realize that sometimes those who stumble into our lives, may be the key to our survival. As the day of reckoning looms closer, Joe, his family, and their new mysterious companion, Shane must come to terms with their own humanity and the realization that sometimes the best choice of running away to safety, isn’t always the easiest.

Zacarias’s play is a gorgeous demonstration of the human experience. The audience is given a glimpse into a time gone by but strangely, it all seems so modern. Boiled down to the simplest of terms, Shane is really about how we treat those around us and how that treatment can either be our saving grace or our untimely downfall.

Breathing life into these characters is a cast, that quite simply, can be described as near flawless. Ricardo Chavira’s Joe Starrett is heartbreaking in his refusal to give up the one thing he has fought so hard to achieve, a place that his family can call their own. Chavira’s portrayal is so raw and honest that the audience is brought to the brink of tears more than once.

William DeMeritt, as the titular Shane, brings a ferocity to his performance as a man who has “seen some things” and refuses to let it happen to others. His devotion to protecting his new friends and what they have striven to build is adrenaline inducing, especially as the story builds to a climax that will have the audience on the edge of their seat.

It is worth mentioning that Shane is not just a fabricated story. Sure, there most likely was not a mysterious rider who arrived just in time to stand up to a land baron but it is “true” that the events portrayed most certainly happened to a degree: The unrightful claiming of land, the fight to be the person with the most power and control, and those who would stand up against the tyranny and say, “no more”.

Shane is a remarkably honest story that will surely resonate with audiences for quite some time. Also, don’t be surprised if you see it on a New York stage in the near future, yes it is that good.

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