A potpourri of arts offerings this week includes the staging of one of playwright Sam Shepard's scenarios of familial violence, a national exhibition of the work of Life magazine photographers, and the return of a ballet company's popular salute to movie musicals.

Set in the desert east of Los Angeles, Shepard's "True West" opens Thursday at Pure Theatre, 701 East Bay St., also known as the Cigar Factory.

The explosive drama opened at San Francisco's Magic Theatre in 1980 and went on to a successful run at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. From Chicago, the show went on to another successful run in New York. In 1984, a teleplay of the production was recorded for PBS. Often described as humorous and provocative, "True West" tells of two estranged brothers, Austin, a successful screenwriter, and Lee, a vagabond thief. The very different siblings meet up at their mother's house while she is on vacation. This unexpected encounter produces a whirlwind of sibling rivalry, identity crises and ironic role reversals.

"This script has particular poignancy in the time of polarized politics and fractured beliefs, as the play chronicles a high-noon showdown between two halves of a divided psyche that Shepard claims as his own," says director Sharon Graci, who co founded Pure Theatre with Rodney Lee Rogers.

Shepard, who has penned more than 40 plays, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for his play, "Buried Child." He also wrote the critically acclaimed "Fool for Love" and "Curse of the Starving Class."

The Pure Theatre cast includes David Mandel, R.W. Smith, Steven White and Kay Shroka.