One would not normally think that two old white men reminiscing on a porch could be such an absorbing, provocative experience.  However, when you are fortunate to have two incredibly compelling actors (Bruce DuBose and Mark Fickert), and a director (Katherine Owens) at the top of her game interpreting a play (Ages of the Moon) from one of America’s most macho playwrights (Sam Shepard) at the one of the most daring theaters (Undermain Theatre) in the area it’s no surprise.

Pulitzer Prize-winning writer, director, and actor Sam Shepard’s new play makes its southwest regional premiere as Undermain’s season-opener, and it comes on like gangbusters.

The story follows the typical Shepard minimalist formula of men behaving badly fueled by liquid intoxicants and nostalgia. However, although there is some minor set destruction, fisticuffs, and lots of tough talk, there is something a little more seasoned and mellow about this masculine meditation on life.

Ames (DuBose) has been “banished” to his woodland hideaway because his wife found an adulterous missive from some unremembered young bar thang, so he has summoned his old friend Byron (Fickert) at three o’clock in the morning to come join him in his descent into bourbon-soaked self-pity.

Their discourse covers the manly gamut of women, drinking, horse racing, sex, music, and the grand celestial sphere.  The two men are “not exactly spring colts anymore,” and their worn relationship is a testy, back and forth of spotty shared memories (contentious and otherwise)bolstered by a mostly melancholic pace and tone that underlines their fragility and the waning of their lives.  It’s truth, beauty and pathos at its finest.

Owens (who helmed Undermain’s amazing Easter) directs the play with a perfect rhythm and nuanced feel for a type of material, and especially a playwright that can be tricky to pull off without seeming forced or too maudlin.  It’s also a testament to her directorial powers that such a testosterone-soaked play consisting of only two male roles feels so sincere and genuine in her hands.

Executive producer DuBose as the man “full of boundless curiosity” is a pained, drunken snarl of a man with hawkish, hooded eyebrows wielding his double-barreled sadness, and rich speaking voice like a master of his craft.

Fickert (great in Circle Theatre’s Becky’s New Car) as his put-upon compadre has a comforting, sing-songy delivery, and a heck of a knack for delivering Shepard’s colorful, yet economical lingo.

Another star of the show is John Arnone’s fantastic set.  His well-loved, dilapidated fishing shack is inhabited by wonderful details like corrugated tin, weathered planks, metal porch chairs, animal trophies, and license plates (kudos to Brooks Aubrey’s property design too).   Most of the action takes place on the wraparound porch, but there is a peek through the screen door and windows to a simple kitchen and old icebox that is intriguing as well.

Sound design by DuBose is a remarkable compliment to the play, incorporating classic country and western tunes, cicadas, trains whistles, and ambient recordings from actual places inTexas and New Mexico.

Photo: Ashley Randall