Sam Shepard and the Aesthetics of Performance

212 Pages·2015·1.85 MB·English

by  Emma Creedon (auth.)

Sam Shepard and
the Aesthetics of
Performance
WHAT IS THEATRE?
Edited by Ann C. Hall
Given the changing nature of audiences, entertainment, and media, the role of the-
atre in twenty-first century culture is changing. The WHAT IS THEATRE? series
brings new and innovative work in literary, cultural, and dramatic criticism into
conversation with established theatre texts and trends, in order to offer fresh inter-
pretation and highlight new or undervalued artists, works, and trends.
ANN C. HALL has published widely in the area of theatre and film studies, is presi-
dent of the Harold Pinter Society, and is an active member in the Modern Language
Association. In addition to her book A Kind of Alaska: Women in the Plays of O’Neill,
Pinter, and Shepard, she has edited a collection of essays, Making the Stage: Essays on
Theatre, Drama, and Performance and a book on the various stage, film, print, and
television versions of Gaston Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera.
Published by Palgrave Macmillan:
Theatre, Communication, Critical Realism
By Tobin Nellhaus
Staging Modern American Life: Popular Culture in the Experimental Theatre of
Millay, Cummings, and Dos Passos
By Thomas Fahy
Authoring Performance: The Director in Contemporary Theatre
By Avra Sidiropoulou
Readings in Performance and Ecology
Edited by Wendy Arons and Theresa J. May
Theatre and War: Theatrical Responses since 1991
By Jeanne Colleran
(Re)Constructing Maternal Performance in Twentieth-Century American Drama
By L. Bailey McDaniel
Sam Shepard and the Aesthetics of Performance
By Emma Creedon
Sam Shepard and
the Aesthetics of
Performance
E C
MMA REEDON
SAM SHEPARD AND THE AESTHETICS OF PERFORMANCE
Copyright © Emma Creedon, 2015.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-53057-8
All rights reserved.
First published in 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States— a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke , H a m p s hire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-70857-4 ISBN 978-1-137-52741-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137527417
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Creedon, Emma, 1984–
Sam Shepard and the aesthetics of performance / by Emma Creedon.
pages cm.—(What is theatre?)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-349-70857-4 (alk. paper)
1. Shepard, Sam, 1943–—Criticism and interpretation. I. Title.
PS3569.H394Z6685 2015
812(cid:25).54—dc23 2015004658
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Knowledge Works (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: July 2015
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To Michael Byrne
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
1. Surrealism and Sam Shepard’s Early Plays: 1964–1967 1
2. Myth, Ritual, and a Search for Selfhood: 1969–1972 21
3. Surrealism and Sam Shepard’s Family Plays:
Representing Gender 43
4. A Comparative Study of Sam Shepard’s Angel City and
Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí’s Un chien andalou 79
5. T ongues, Savage/Love, and The War in Heaven: Angel’s
Monologue: Joseph Chaikin and Sam Shepard
in Collaboration 105
6. States of Shock and Simpatico: Performances of Waste 135
7. Conclusion: Through the 1990s and Beyond 163
Notes 171
Index 195
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Acknowledgments
I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the staff at the
Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, for assisting me
in my consultation of the Magic Theatre Archives. Additionally, I would
like to thank Professor Rush Rehm for inviting me to speak at the Stanford
Summer Theatre annual symposium in July 2012 at Stanford University.
This trip would not have been possible without the generous support of
University College Dublin’s Seed Funding Scheme, and I thank the college
wholeheartedly.
I would also like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the following: Jimmy
Fay for being so kind and so generous with his time, the Signature Theatre in
New York, particularly the Executive Director Erika Mallin and the Artistic
Assistant Kathryn Kozlark, and Shepard’s agent Judy Boals. I would also
like to thank the members of my PhD doctoral panel Dr. Ron Callan and
Professor Frank McGuinness for their invaluable advice. Equally, Professor
Steven Watt has been incredibly generous in endorsing this research and
was instrumental in the publication of this book. I would also like to thank
Professor Ann C. Hall, the series editor of this collection, for her enthusiasm
and commendation. Furthermore, I could not have completed this book
without the vast knowledge, the unwavering support, and the guidance of
Professor Anthony Roche. Thank you.
I am privileged to have the most generous and supportive family and
thank you for all that you have done for me. I am eternally indebted to you
in so many ways. Finally, I would like to thank my husband Michael Byrne
for his incredible encouragement and love. This book is for us.