The Theatre of Sam Shepard: States of Crisis

by Stephen J. Bottoms

Book Overview

This comprehensive analysis traces Sam Shepard's career from his experimental one-act plays of the 1960s through the 1994 play Simpatico. Concentrating on his playwriting, this book charts Shepard's various developments and shifts of direction, and the changing contexts in which his work has appeared. Engaging, informative, and insightful, The Theatre of Sam Shepard is the definitive source on the works of this innovative and original writer.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521587913
• ISBN13: 9780521587914
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 316 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

the best guide to Shepard's theater in print

Bottoms' study is an insightful and surefooted introduction to one of America's most troubling and innovative playwrights. While the book presents itself as a fairly straightforward work of dramatic criticism, with some production history and biography mixed in, it is written in an enliveningly lucid style and is brimming with surprising insights. Its organization is pleasingly straightforward too: the introduction lays out the main 'crises' that run through Shepard's work, and then the book proceeds to use these crises as it goes chronologically through the evolution of Shepard's career, paying attention to its many aesthetic twists and turns. Highly recommended for anyone studying Shepard, or interested in putting on a thoughtful production of one of his plays!