Where It All Goes Down
The house, the West
Our House…in the Middle of the Street
The main setting of the play is Austin and Lee's mom's house. It's the early 1980s, although the year isn't extremely important. The play is in no way dated, but there are a few things, like the phone, the typewriter, and the idea that it's still pretty easy to go off the grid that don't quite fit in as easily in our time as they did then.
Generally speaking, the set is a realistic one. Shepard refers to houseplants, telephones on the wall, a kitchen table, etc. There is nothing strange about the environment. In fact, the effectiveness of the play stems heavily from the fact that the setting is so very, very normal in the beginning.
At the top of the show, Austin seems very much at home in this setting. He's a pretty regular guy working to further his career while taking care of his mom's house while she's on vacation. At first glance, Lee is the one who seems incredibly out of place here. However, Lee calls attention to the fact that Austin might not be the regular guy we think he is:
LEE: What about you? You stick out like a sore thumb. Look at you. You think yer regular lookin'? (1.1113-115)
As the play progresses, the state of the house decays. What was once just an average suburban home turns into something that resembles a "desert junkyard at noon" (2.9.4). Debris litters most of the house, the phone has been ripped out of the wall, the typewriter is smashed, the houseplants are dead, and everything just looks like a storm has blown through. The house's descent into ruin mirrors Austin's descent. He looks just at home now in the disarray of this place as he looked in the well-kept house at the beginning.
Way Out West
The house is the setting of the play. All of the action of the play takes place within the house. But sometimes you have to look beyond the everyday and think a little bigger. This play is set in the West. The West is so important that it's included in the title.
Technically, the play is set about 30 minutes outside of Hollywood. This is perfect. The setting is just minutes away from the glitz and glamor of the movies, but it's also not far from the foothills, the desert, and those darn yapping coyotes. The setting is the crossroads between the New West and the Old (or, dare we say, "True") West.
The idea that the violent, wide-open West has been quelled and changed forever is a major theme in the play. Lee believes his movie is about that true West, while Austin is convinced that that idea of the West no longer exists:
Saul: It has the ring of truth, Austin.
Austin: Truth?
Lee: It is true.
Saul: Something about the real West.[…]There's no such thing as the West anymore! It's a dead issue!
Austin: There's no such thing as the West anymore! (2.6.104-124)
In the end, Lee's vision of the West invades this new West, and we see the brothers as part of that old, violent world that society has tried very hard to do away with:
A single coyote heard in the distance, lights fade softly into moonlight, the figures of the brothers now appear to be caught in a vast desert-like landscape. (2.9.341-343)