Buried Child
Place on List:
III. Period: 1960 - 2009
4. Primary
Texts: Drama
Sam
Shepard. *Buried
Child.
(1978)
Supporting References:
- Bordman, Gerald, and Thomas S. Hischak. "Buried Child." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. : Oxford University Press, 2004. Oxford Reference. 2004. Date Accessed 2 Sep. 2013
“Buried Child (1978), a play by Sam Shepard.
[Theatre de Lys, 152 perf.; Pulitzer Prize.] After several years in
Los Angeles, Vince (Christopher McCann) returns to the Illinois farm
of his grandparents, bringing with him his saxophone, his girl
Shelley (Mary McDonnell), and a parcel of fond memories and hopes. He
is quickly disillusioned. His grandmother, Hallie (Jacqueline
Brooks), preaches morality but spends her evenings on the town with
the local priest, Father Dewis (Bill Wiley). His dying, drunken
grandfather, Dodge (Richard Hamilton), has murdered an unwanted child
and wails, “I'm descended from a long line of corpses and there's
not a living soul behind me.” Vince must also confront his crazed
father, Tilden (Tom Noonan), and brutal, crippled uncle, Bradley (Jay
Sanders). The visit leaves Vince to work out a new life in a
spiritually bankrupt world. Originally produced by San Francisco's
Magic
Theatre, the play was mounted Off Off Broadway before this
Off‐Broadway engagement began. A slightly revised version of the
play arrived on Broadway in 1996 and met with success.”
- "Shepard, Sam." The Oxford Companion to Theatre and Performance. : Oxford University Press, 2010. Oxford Reference. 2010. Date Accessed 16 Aug. 2013
The following references the writer
and not the text specifically.
“Shepard, Sam (1943– ) American playwright, actor, and
director. A prominent figure Off-Off-Broadway
in the 1960s, his work is regarded as unmistakably American in its
energies, jargons, and pop-culture trappings, yet harbours the
existential undertow of *Beckett.
Shepard's avalanche of early works exposed the raw patchwork of inner
experience at the expense of conventional character
and plot. During this period he met *Chaikin,
with whom he would establish a lifelong creative relationship. The
Tooth of Crime reflects his passion for rock and roll—he wrote
the music for its songs—though he disagreed openly with famous
productions by *Marowitz
(London, 1972) and *Schechner
(New York, 1973).
“Shepard found an artistic home at
San Francisco's Magic Theatre with director Robert Woodruff, where
his ‘family’ plays were produced, beginning with Curse of
the Starving Class (1977) and Buried Child (1978), for
which he received the Pulitzer Prize. The honour, along with his
debut as a film actor in Days of Heaven, swept the fiercely
individualistic playwright into the mainstream of American theatre.
True West (1980) renewed his ascendancy, followed by Fool
for Love (1983), which earned one of many Obie awards for
Shepard as playwright and his first as director. These pieces lay
bare dysfunctioning family bonds and the betrayed promises of
American myths, drawing on a roughly hewn realism
amid scruffy Western landscapes, hinging on reversible images of the
mundane and the apocalyptic. His plays have come sporadically since
the mid-1980s. His latter-day cowboy persona has won popularity as a
film actor and drawn him closer to the screen as writer and
director.”
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Comments
The breaking down of the American Dream - The pictures in Hallie's room that the audience never sees but are described by various characters depict a all American family. We learn at the end of the play that they were living what on the outside looked like the American Dream - a family with a couple of kids, land, house and a successful farming business. This is reinforce and becomes part of the play vocabulary when Tilden's high school achievement of being All American is brought up repeatedly. The American Dream also has an internal component of belonging, happiness, fulfillment, achievement. These internal components are missing at the time that the external elements appeared like the American Dream and definitely at the time of the play. Hattie, who arguably could be the antagonist of the play, contributes to the destruction of this dream and the family by her chronic infidelity and her constant romanticizing of the Ansel. In the opening scene, Hallie says that there is a possibility of a statue being erected in Ansel's honor of him holding a rifle & a basketball. A soldier and a basketball star reinforce the American Dream. It is later revealed that Ansel was the infant that Dodge killed. Not only do we see the breakdown of the American Dream but the creation & propagation of a bastardized version of the American Dream that is continues to erode the family.
I don't readily see Shepard being violent with the plays form. Its very traditional. Perhaps, that's why the violence is so effective & why its possible to stay with this family for three acts is that while the play feels like its out of the Twighlight Zone at times the structure is familiar.
There isn't a well known scene or understanding of the play in contemporary theater. I think to much time has passed. Its certainly known - and is a must in studying Shepard's work. I've see Dodge's monologue about killing Ansel in a workshop. Shepard is known for being a strong masculine voice and gets criticism for his depiction of women. This play is emblematic of his treatment of women. Interesting that Dodge kills the baby but its because of Hallie's behavior. One could argue that the play blames Hallie more than Dodge for the state of the family. Dodge comes off quiet sympathetic in this play. Shelley isn't depicted poorly but she doesn't have a whole lot of depth. She more plays the role of a outsiders reaction to the dysfunction. Perhaps the audience's way into the play.
There are quiet a few similarities between Long Days and this: The death of a child, the two worlds living in one house (both mothers have another life upstairs then from the men down stairs), same family structure: mother, father, three sons (one deceased as a child), the family leaving with the consequence of secrets, family pacts that are ultimately more destructive then helpful to the family - Long Days is a pact to try and keep the mother sober & in Buried Child the pact to never speak about how Ansel died, both are set in the family home.
Elements of Absurd: Tilden & the garden vegetables. Husking the corn & covering his father with the husks. The whole thing with the carrots. The insisting that the farm hasn't been in use for over 40 years. That a whole other world lives upstairs in Hallie's room that we get glimpses of but never understand. Digging up a baby corpse and giving it to your mother.
The thing that is interesting about Shepard is that though is characters do some crazy things and live very dysfunction lives, he - as a playwright - is not cruel to his characters. He actually has a great compassion for them that underscores this play and his others.