'True West' by Sam Shepard. (Art Watch).

Any true American artist must respect the appearance of a Budweiser sixpack in a play's opening scene.

Sam Shepard would definitely qualify as that, and the Pulitzer prizewinning playwright would likely take pleasure in a current production of one of his most celebrated plays, "True West," currently running on Poliforum Sigueiros in Mexico City.

Operating under the translated title "El Verdadero Oeste' the production is surprisingly faithful to Shepard's comic masterpiece, which tracks the plight of a pair of mismatched brothers on their artistic quest to develop the ultimate Western screenplay.

The play opens with the immensely charismatic Lee (Plutarco Haza) knocking back cans of Budweiser, while his apparently more responsible brother Austin (Fabian Corres) slaves over a typewriter by candlelight, waiting for his muse to appear.

Brotherly love seems absent from the set, which is cleverly comprised of a long table--with two chairs facing each other on opposite ends, emblematic of the sibling rivalry that weaves its way through the two-hour play--and a kitchen, which sits in the middle of the modest theater.

The set and props, which largely consist of various bottles of alcohol, are simple and effective. The production team also should be particularly commended for its brilliant music and sound--coyotes' howls are mixed with The Doors' "Riders on the Storm" to close the first act and establish the sense that some weird postmodern Western tale is unfolding before our eyes. Luis Manuel Aguilar's lighting is also very well done and captures the black-and-white tension of the play.

The brothers' conflict is clearly the central theme of the play, but it runs much deeper than that. The frustrating and maddening thirst for artistic expression, the nature of human experience and the significance of blood ties in a cold world are some of the broader issues here. Throughout, the brothers--played with aplomb by the frenetic, high-energy Haza and the introspective, uptight Corres--capitalize on their differences to create fine art. Ana Ofelia Murguia also deserves recognition for her climactic appearance as Mama. The trio is joined by Roman Walker in a turn as a Thomas Wolfe-esque script agent. Jose Caballero directs the Haza production.

Violence is always simmering just below the surface in a story that at times seems like "The Odd Couple" meets Cain and Abel, but there are moments of touching sibling connection in which the audience can see that these brothers may be on the same page, despite their obvious differences.

"Maybe you are getting ready for something, little brother," Lee said to Austin in one of the play's few endearing moments, when the audience sees the strength of two brothers striving in a world that never caters to the meek of heart. They talk of the attraction of the desert and Lee the drifter and petty thief promises to share with his brother some stories of "cosas de la vida real."

Although it is at times strange to hear Shepard's 1980 play performed in Spanish, especially for those of us not entirely fluent in it, the universality of the story and the sincerity and drive of the players makes it well worth the modest ticket price.

In Mexico City, where the listing of theater events too often appears to be a rundown of live soft porn, it is good to see some local artists taka a swing at a work by one of the late 20th century's most respected playwrights.

Poliforum Siqueiros

Insurgentes Sur 701

Col. Napoles

Performances. Thurs.-Sat. 8:30 p.m., Sat.-Sun. 6 p.m.

Indefinite run began Feb. 27