"Sit back and get ready to enjoy the most perfectly distilled 50 minutes or so of classic Shepard you’re ever likely to see...The end of the first act left me breathless. The second act felt slightly off its rhythms...Mr. Dano was nailing the moves without making that final, essential leap into the void, and the tension sagged. I suspect he’ll get there as the play’s run continues. Mr. Hawke is already delivering a faultless performance, probably his best ever onstage."
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"If the charismatic Hawke all but wipes the floor with Dano in the play’s first half, Dano gets his turn to act out in Act Two. These are showcase roles, and the actors play them with gusto...But if some aspects of 'True West' seem too neatly schematic, Shepard’s dissection of authenticity and masculinity resounds in new ways in the current American political landscape."
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"Hawke is lighting a fire (literally and figuratively) at the center of the play and clearly having a ball doing it. But on the other side of things, through some imperfect alchemy of actor, director, and character, Dano’s Austin can’t take the heat...Mayhem is aesthetically approximated, but it never really kicks us in the guts...Up inside its jewel box, so neatly delineated and so separate from us, the mess this production makes is largely artificial, well designed but not dangerous."
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"While 'True West' fails to add up to a convincing dramatic whole, it still works as a vehicle for two first-class actors, and the stars of this revival qualify...Shepard aimed for high significance but settled in the second act for noisy obviousness. If you’re content to watch two fine actors make the most of a play that gives them plenty of opportunities to show off, you’ll go home happy."
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"Whether Shepard’s chief insight holds up is an open question even this earnest production doesn’t quite answer...Still, there’s no denying the appeal 'True West' still commands, perhaps especially for actors...Dano is entirely credible here...Hawke, of course, lives for this type of juicy role, playing dirty in more ways than one...So maybe his transformation from fearsome to beggarly is a tad brisk, but just try to look away."
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"This funny, violent play is one of Sam Shepard’s best works, a fierce summation of some of his undying themes...If there’s one thing a production of 'True West' must have, it’s that haunting sense of the two brothers being one person at war with himself. That’s exactly what director James Macdonald’s new Broadway production doesn’t have...More critically, there’s no real sense of danger when the brothers finally trash the kitchen and go for each other’s throats."
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"The expansive American Airlines Theatre isn't intimate enough to provide the necessary air of claustrophobia; the slack pacing of Act I allows boredom to settle in; and Hawke, as good as he is, is a bit too studied in his affect. He certainly tries hard, but you never get the sense of true danger that his character is supposed to emit...The play practically becomes an all-out farce, which is perhaps not what Shepard intended but is highly entertaining nonetheless."
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"The results are disappointingly wan...Macdonald’s intelligent, detailed work reveals the play’s symmetries...In other words, this is the most well-behaved 'True West' I’ve ever seen. That’s not necessarily a good thing...There needs to be a subtle but definite psychic flip, where each brother starts to take on the other’s qualities. And while Hawke can modulate greaseball macho swagger into helpless, boyish terror, Dano can’t seem to access Austin’s inner killer."
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