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Philip Glenister

Robert Glenister

William Hope

Julia McKenzie

Sam Shepard

John Peacock

Celia de Wolff

Drama on 4: True West

True West

10/09/2016

BBC Radio 4 - Drama on 4, True West

Sam Shepard's fiery examination of sibling rivalry, starring Philip and Robert Glenister.

Sam Shepard's fiery examination of the relationship and rivalry between two brothers - screenwriter Austin and older, estranged brother Lee. Starring Philip and Robert Glenister.

Sam Shepard's examination of the relationship and rivalry between two brothers - Austin, a screenwriter, and his older, estranged brother, Lee. Starring the Glenister brothers.

The drama is set in the kitchen of their mother's home, 40 miles east of Los Angeles. Austin is house-sitting while their mother is in Alaska, and is confronted there by his brother, who decides to pay a visit. Lee manages to bully his way into the house and to borrow his brother's car. The screenplay Austin is writing and about to pitch to a Hollywood producer somehow gets taken over by the pushy con-man tactics of Lee and the brothers have no choice but to co-operate in the writing of a story that will make or break both their lives. In the process, the sibling rivalry comes to a head and their roles as successful family man and nomadic drifter are somehow reversed as each man finds himself admitting that he had somehow always wished he were in the other's shoes. 

Robert Glenister and Philip Glenister come together professionally for the first time in their careers and the result is an incredibly powerful and poignant listen.

Adapted for Radio by John Peacock
Director: Celia de Wolff
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4.

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