Sunday November 8

Fool for Love

Chris Harder and Val Landrum, a real-life married couple, play at emotional abuse and infidelity in CoHo’s production of a lesser-known work of Sam Shepard. Eddie (Harder), a rugged, cheatin’ stunt man, has come to fetch May (Landrum), his lover of 15 years, from her squalid motel room, hoping she’ll return to live with him again in his windblown trailer. She doesn’t want to go, but she doesn’t want him to go, either. So they bicker, he pleads, she threatens to murder him, they get drunk, they fling one another against the walls, and we watch, hopelessly fascinated. So does the Old Man (Tim Stapleton), a mysterious ghost sitting onstage in a rocking chair and bad wig, sucking down whiskey. So, too, does Martin (Spencer Conway), a handsome but none-too-bright townie who shows up to court May. Seeing Harder and Landrum go at it is a bit like overhearing a couple’s role-playing fantasy, uncomfortable and awkward, but it works well for this show. As usual in Shepard’s work, the plot doesn’t quite follow—Eddie is pursued by an unexplained Countess—but it doesn’t really matter. We’re in this for the fight. Don Crossley’s lighting trickery lends a strong sense of realism, which is unfortunately undermined by the set’s lack of walls. Mimed door slams with sound cues are a sorry excuse for the real thing. BEN WATERHOUSE. The CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 205-0715. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 21. $20-$25.

Thursday November 12

Fool for Love

Chris Harder and Val Landrum, a real-life married couple, play at emotional abuse and infidelity in CoHo’s production of a lesser-known work of Sam Shepard. Eddie (Harder), a rugged, cheatin’ stunt man, has come to fetch May (Landrum), his lover of 15 years, from her squalid motel room, hoping she’ll return to live with him again in his windblown trailer. She doesn’t want to go, but she doesn’t want him to go, either. So they bicker, he pleads, she threatens to murder him, they get drunk, they fling one another against the walls, and we watch, hopelessly fascinated. So does the Old Man (Tim Stapleton), a mysterious ghost sitting onstage in a rocking chair and bad wig, sucking down whiskey. So, too, does Martin (Spencer Conway), a handsome but none-too-bright townie who shows up to court May. Seeing Harder and Landrum go at it is a bit like overhearing a couple’s role-playing fantasy, uncomfortable and awkward, but it works well for this show. As usual in Shepard’s work, the plot doesn’t quite follow—Eddie is pursued by an unexplained Countess—but it doesn’t really matter. We’re in this for the fight. Don Crossley’s lighting trickery lends a strong sense of realism, which is unfortunately undermined by the set’s lack of walls. Mimed door slams with sound cues are a sorry excuse for the real thing. BEN WATERHOUSE. The CoHo Theater, 2257 NW Raleigh St., 205-0715. 8 pm Thursdays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays. Closes Nov. 21. $20-$25.