SOURCE: A review of Cowboys and The Rock Garden, in The Village Voice, Vol. X, No. 1, October 22, 1964, p. 13.

Smith is a critic, stage director, and theater director, whose books include Eight Plays from Off-Off Broadway (1966) and More Plays from Off-Off Broadway (1972). A drama critic for the Village Voice from 1959 to 1974, Smith wrote the following review of Shepard's first produced plays, becoming an influential supporter of the author's early work.

I know it sounds pretentious and unprepossessing—Theatre Genesis at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bouwerie, dedicated to the new playwright—but they have actually found a new playwright, which is more than you can often say for Broadway or Off-Broadway. The playwright's name is Sam Shepard, and I know nothing about him except that he has written a pair of provocative and genuinely original plays. They will be given their final weekend of performances this Friday, through Sunday at 8.30.

The...