Holed up in a seedy motel on the edge of the Mojave Desert, two former lovers unpack the deep secrets and dark desires of their tangled relationship, passionately tearing each other apart. Beaten down by ill-fated love and a ruthless struggle for identity, can they ultimately live with, or without, each other? Led by director Daniel Aukin (Back Back Back at MTC; 4,000 Miles), Tony Award winner Nina Arianda (Venus in Fur at MTC, Born Yesterday)and Sam Rockwell (A Behanding in Spokane, The Way Way Back) bring an explosive intensity to Sam Shepard's (Buried Child, True West) landmark myth of the new Wild West.
And for 75 minutes, director Daniel Aukin and his flawless cast, led by a riveting Nina Arianda and a fiercely unsettling Sam Rockwell, deliver, never allowing themselves or the audience an uncharged moment...The arrival of a gentleman caller named Martin -- an awkward but patient fellow, imbued with a strange grace by a wonderful Tom Pelphrey -- spurs the possessive Eddie to reveal that he and May share DNA...By this point, Arianda, who takes a short while to completely settle into her role -- her twangy accent seems to come and go -- has dug in with full force, and the results are devastating. The actress...has never had trouble holding a stage, or dominating one. Here, she reveals the desperation and shame of a woman who wants to exert her independence but cannot, and her final resignation is harrowing. Rockwell deftly mines the vulnerability and humor behind the menace Eddie shows us initially.
Rockwell, the reliable movie actor celebrated as much for his supporting roles as his leading ones, is part action, part talk -- and far more skilled with a lasso than we'd have any right to expect...Rockwell comes on as a wiseacre at first, something like Brad Pitt in 'Thelma & Louise,' trying to assure Arianda's May he just wants her to be happy. He gets cockier as he goes, and it's a very nifty, physical performance...Arianda, the Tony winner of 'Venus in Fur,' is hot-tempered and emotional, yet her performance all fits well within the bounds of Shepard's economical prose. The idea is to portray her -- purposefully -- as the stock, blousy working-class woman who's been in abusive relationship and has finally decided she can't take it anymore...'Fool for Love' is classic Shepard: Family dysfunction, a Western setting and some dark and twisted stuff leading up to a big reveal (or two). It's all handled with an enormous amount of skill and affection -- the 75 minutes fly by, and we feel as if we know these folks intimately.
| 1983 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2015 | Broadway |
Manhattan Theatre Club Broadway Revival Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Nina Arianda |
| 2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Sam Rockwell |
| 2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or off-Broadway) | Fool for Love |
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