Sam Shepard Summary

Shepard, Sam (1943—) Playwright, actor, and director Sam Shepard is a serious and distinguished playwright whose work is performed by his peers and admired by critics and theatergoers in many c... Read more

Sam Shepard (Samuel Shepard Rogers VII; born 1943) began his career as a playwright in the lively off-off-Broadway scene of the 1960s and became one of the United States' most prolific and acclaimed d... Read more

November 5, 1943. Samuel "Steve" Shepard Rogers "...plunged into the world head first and, although covered with blood, my attitude was very friendly...."My name came down through seven generations of... Read more

Although Sam Shepard has written more than forty plays and five screenplays, including collaborating on Michelangelo Antonioni's Zabriskie Point (1970) and Wim Wenders's Paris, Texas (1984); has direc... Read more

In the following interview, Shepard discusses his background, his early experiences as a dramatist, and a number of specific plays. [Theatre Quarterly]: Born 5 November 1943 at Fort Sheridan, Illinois... Read more

In the following essay, Shepard details the processes and principles that figure in the creation of his plays. I feel a lot of reluctance in attempting to describe any part of a process which, by its ... Read more

A director and critic, Bloom addresses Shepard's initial work, arguing that the early plays are a form of ";gestalt theatre"; that conveys the consciousness of America in the 1960... Read more

In the following essay, Rabillard notes the marked difference between Shepard's abstract early plays and his more realistic later work The critic finds, however, that both styles are exploratio... Read more

Oliver began her career as an actor, writer, and producer and joined the New Yorker in 1948, becoming one of the magazine's theater critics in 1961. Here she praises Shepard's writing in... Read more

In the following review, Brustein offers a mixed assessment of A Lie of the Mind, noting that the “plotting is a little too undisciplined.” A Lie of the Mind is Sam Shepard's most... Read more

In the following essay, Wyatt explores the ambivalence of the characters and the world view in Shepard's body of work. Sam Shepard does not write dramas of recognition. His characters renounce ... Read more

In the following essay, Heilman provides a thematic overview of Shepard's plays, highlighting his literary style in each play. Any playwright with such a highly individualized manner as flashes... Read more

In the following essay, Willadt analyzes the structure of States of Shock, emphasizing Shepard's sense of machismo and his portrayal of relationships between men. I After a six-year silence, Sa... Read more

In the following essay, Brustein offers a mixed assessment of Shepard's works, particularly Buried Child and Cruising Paradise, within the context of Shepard's attitudes towards being a ... Read more

In the following review, King compares Shepard's fiction in Cruising Paradise with his dramas, faulting the stories as the “literary equivalent of doodles.” A few writers—C... Read more

In the following essay, Smith assesses Shepard's current problematic critical reception, accounting for his early acclaim and his subsequently diminished reputation. When Eric Bentley tackled t... Read more

In the following review, Phillips offers a mixed assessment of The Late Henry Moss, noting that the play has “nuggets of gold.” In 1986, Robert De Niro returned to the New York stage for... Read more

In the following essay, Wilson examines the issue of linguistic “presence” in Shepard's plays, exploring the theological dimension of Shepard's dramatic language. Walt Whit... Read more

Critical Essay by John Simon Shepard is one of the most stimulating figures in the off-and-off-off-Broadway theater; in Red Cross, he conjures up a day in the estival life of a young couple in a fores... Read more

Critical Essay by Clive Barnes Despite my worst instincts I cannot prevent myself from mildly loving the plays of [Sam Shepard]…. He is so sweetly unserious about his plays, and so desperately ... Read more

Critical Essay by Mel Gussow Sam Shepard is fascinated by America's folk heroes, which for him means not merely historical and legendary figures, but also movie and pop stars. These larger-than... Read more

Critical Essay by Richard F. Shepard ["Up to Thursday"] centered on (1) a young man lying in bed under an American flag and (2) four handsome, very young people sitting on straight-back ... Read more

Critical Essay by Clive Barnes Mr. Shepard writes mythic plays in American jazz-poetry. He writes about today but obliquely, which is possibly the only way today can be written about. He is trying to ... Read more

Critical Essay by Harold Clurman Sam Shepard is a voice from the "underground," a poet's voice. His plays are mythic. They speak of the contemporary world and subliminally convey ... Read more

Critical Essay by Charles R. Bachman For several years Sam Shepard has been acknowledged as the most talented and promising playwright to emerge from the Off-off Broadway movement. Now, more than a de... Read more

Critical Essay by Chet Flippo [Rolling Thunder Logbook] is more remarkable for what was left out than for what was put in. In his introduction, Shepard cannily seeks to defuse such criticism by saying... Read more

Critical Essay by Robert Pasolli Red Cross is an enigmatic play on many counts, the playwright having left out a great deal of information ordinarily thought pertinent. He avoids elements of expositio... Read more

Critical Essay by John Lahr Of all contemporary American playwrights, Sam Shepard alone still has romantic feeling for the landscape. He is not a city playwright; but a Midwestern wanderer who has dri... Read more

Critical Essay by Carol Rosen Sam Shepard is a playwright of zap-pop-pow action, and he is a playwright of comic-book verbs: his plays flash, zoom, and screech across the stage. Primary colors ooze th... Read more

Critical Essay by Robert Pasolli Chicago is a play of vivid stage imagery, slippery symbols and an unbridled indulgence of imagination. It possesses the barest outline of recognizable reality….... Read more

Critical Essay by Sydney Schubert Walter If the initial production of Fourteen Hundred Thousand was in any way a success, it was only in demonstrating to both myself and Sam Shepard some pitfalls that... Read more

Critical Essay by Edith Oliver ["Red Cross"] is a disagreeable, and hateful, play. It is also as mysterious and haunting as [Mr. Shepard's] "Chicago" of a few season... Read more