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Overview
Synopsis
Sam Shepard’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Buried Child takes place in an old farm house, somewhere in Illinois. We are introduced to Dodge, a cranky, sarcastic alcoholic on his death bed, and his chatty, oblivious wife Halie, who is having an affair with the local Protestant minister. As Dodge’s health devolves, the prodigal sons return: Tilden, who has come back into town after having run into some trouble in New Mexico, and Bradley, who seems to live nearby and only has one leg, having lost his other one in a chainsaw accident. Their lives are a whirlwind of chaos and confusion: Dodge sneaks whiskey even as he coughs, unstable Tilden claims to have discovered vegetables in the yard that Dodge swears don’t exist, and Bradley enters the house and cuts his father’s hair while he is asleep. It is not quite clear why everyone is acting so strangely until Tilden’s other son, Vince, comes home, after six years’ absence, with his girlfriend Shelly in tow. As old secrets from the past rise to the surface, we see newcomer Shelly try to fit the pieces together. As the family tries desperately to keep the past in the past and stay afloat, the darkest of secrets begin to come to light. Alternately funny and darkly macabre, Buried Child weaves a twisted family drama of epic proportions.
Show Information
- Book
- Sam Shepard
- Category
- Play
- Age Guidance
- Thirteen Plus (PG-13)
- Number of Acts
- 3
- First Produced
- 1978
- Genres
- Dark Comedy
- Settings
- Contemporary
- Time & Place
- old farm house, illinois, sometime after the vietnam war
- Cast Size
- small
- Licensor
- Dramatists Play Service
- Ideal For
- College/University, Community Theatre, Mature Audiences, Professional Theatre, Regional Theatre, Small Cast, Mostly Male Cast, Includes Elderly, Adult, Young Adult, Late Teen, Mature Adult Characters
Context
Buried Child premiered in 1978 at San Francisco’s Magic Theatre, where Shepard was playwright-in-residence. Robert Woodruff directed. It transferred to New York later that year, with an off-off-Broadway premier at Theater for the New City before transferring off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. The New York production earned positive reviews. The day after the show closed, Shepard was announced as the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Shepard also won the Obie Award for
to read the context for Buried Child and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Plot
Act One
Dodge sits watching TV and coughing. His wife, Halie, calls down to him and tells him to take a pill. As they discuss the past, with Halie still yelling down, Dodge occasionally sneaks a drink from a bottle hidden in the couch. Tilden, Dodge’s oldest son, enters with ears of corn. He says he picked the corn out back, but Dodge insists nothing has grown since the Dust Bowl and tells Tilden to take it back wherever he got it. As Tilden husks the corn, Halie calls down again. She
to read the plot for Buried Child and to unlock other amazing theatre resources!Characters
| Name | Part Size | Gender | Vocal Part |
|---|---|---|---|
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Lead |
Female |
Non-singer |
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Lead |
Male |
Non-singer |
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Lead |
Male |
Non-singer |
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|
Lead |
Female |
Non-singer |
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Lead |
Male |
Non-singer |
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Supporting |
Male |
Non-singer |
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Featured |
Male |
Non-singer |
Songs
A song with an asterisk (*) before the title indicates a dance number; a character listed in a song with an asterisk (*) by the character's name indicates that the character exclusively serves as a dancer in this song, which is sung by other characters.
Monologues
Scenes
Key Terms
Also called “black comedy,” takes a pessimistic view of the world.
Using images of injury or death for dramatic and gruesome effect.
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards originally given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City.
An award for an achievement in American journalism, literature, or music
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