Sam Shepard on the German Stage

Sam Shepard on the German Stage

Author: Carol Benet

Publisher: Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers

Published: 1993

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13:

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Sam Shepard, the noted contemporary playwright and movie star, creates his own version of the American myth in a super-realistic, avant-garde world of cowboys, gangsters, artists and rock stars. Thirteen of Shepard's plays have appeared in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. To understand Shepard's reception, Carol Benet probes many neglected areas concerning the German language productions. She examines the roles of the translator, talent scout, agent, publisher, theater staff, critic, local government and even the program book in the reception of a foreign playwright. The answers elucidate a more fundamental question: How is the canon of dramatic literature established?


Book Synopsis Sam Shepard on the German Stage by : Carol Benet

Download or read book Sam Shepard on the German Stage written by Carol Benet and published by Peter Lang Incorporated, International Academic Publishers. This book was released on 1993 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sam Shepard, the noted contemporary playwright and movie star, creates his own version of the American myth in a super-realistic, avant-garde world of cowboys, gangsters, artists and rock stars. Thirteen of Shepard's plays have appeared in Germany, Switzerland and Austria. To understand Shepard's reception, Carol Benet probes many neglected areas concerning the German language productions. She examines the roles of the translator, talent scout, agent, publisher, theater staff, critic, local government and even the program book in the reception of a foreign playwright. The answers elucidate a more fundamental question: How is the canon of dramatic literature established?


The Cambridge Companion to Sam Shepard

The Cambridge Companion to Sam Shepard

Author: Matthew Roudané

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2002-05-27

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 9780521777667

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Few American playwrights have exerted as much influence on the contemporary stage as Sam Shepard. His plays are performed on and off Broadway and in all the major regional American theatres. They are also widely performed and studied in Europe, particularly in Britain, Germany and France, finding both a popular and scholarly audience. In this collection of seventeen original essays, American and European authors from different professional and academic backgrounds explore the various aspects of Shepard s career - his plays, poetry, music, fiction, acting, directing and film work. The volume covers the major plays, including Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, and True West, as well as other lesser known but vitally important works. A thorough chronology of Shepard s life and career, together with biographical chapters, a note from the legendary Joseph Chaikin, and an interview with the playwright, give a fascinating first-hand account of an exuberant and experimental personality.


Book Synopsis The Cambridge Companion to Sam Shepard by : Matthew Roudané

Download or read book The Cambridge Companion to Sam Shepard written by Matthew Roudané and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-05-27 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few American playwrights have exerted as much influence on the contemporary stage as Sam Shepard. His plays are performed on and off Broadway and in all the major regional American theatres. They are also widely performed and studied in Europe, particularly in Britain, Germany and France, finding both a popular and scholarly audience. In this collection of seventeen original essays, American and European authors from different professional and academic backgrounds explore the various aspects of Shepard s career - his plays, poetry, music, fiction, acting, directing and film work. The volume covers the major plays, including Curse of the Starving Class, Buried Child, and True West, as well as other lesser known but vitally important works. A thorough chronology of Shepard s life and career, together with biographical chapters, a note from the legendary Joseph Chaikin, and an interview with the playwright, give a fascinating first-hand account of an exuberant and experimental personality.


Understanding Sam Shepard

Understanding Sam Shepard

Author: James A. Crank

Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

Published: 2012-10-31

Total Pages: 152

ISBN-13: 1611171873

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Understanding Sam Shepard investigates the notoriously complex and confusing dramatic world of Sam Shepard, one of America’s most prolific, thoughtful, and challenging contemporary playwrights. During his nearly fifty-year career as a writer, actor, director, and producer, Shepard has consistently focused his work on the ever-changing American cultural landscape. James A. Crank’s comprehensive study of Shepard offers scholars and students of the dramatist a means of understanding Shephard’s frequent experimentation with language, setting, characters, and theme. Beginning with a brief biography of Shepard, Crank shows how experiences in Shepard’s life eventually resonate in his work by exploring the major themes, unique style, and history of Shepard’s productions. Focusing first on Shepard’s early plays, which showcase highly experimental, frenetic explorations of fractured worlds, Crank discusses how the techniques from these works evolve and translate into the major works in his “family trilogy”: Curse of the Starving Class, the Pulitzer Prize–winning Buried Child, and True West. Shepard often uses elements from his past—his relationship with his father, his struggle for control within the family, and the breakdown of the suburban American dream—as major starting points in his plays. Shepard is a recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, eleven Obie Awards, and a Chicago Tribune Literary Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Augmented with an extensive bibliography, Understanding Sam Shepard is an ideal point of entrance into complex and compelling dramas of this acclaimed playwright.


Book Synopsis Understanding Sam Shepard by : James A. Crank

Download or read book Understanding Sam Shepard written by James A. Crank and published by Univ of South Carolina Press. This book was released on 2012-10-31 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding Sam Shepard investigates the notoriously complex and confusing dramatic world of Sam Shepard, one of America’s most prolific, thoughtful, and challenging contemporary playwrights. During his nearly fifty-year career as a writer, actor, director, and producer, Shepard has consistently focused his work on the ever-changing American cultural landscape. James A. Crank’s comprehensive study of Shepard offers scholars and students of the dramatist a means of understanding Shephard’s frequent experimentation with language, setting, characters, and theme. Beginning with a brief biography of Shepard, Crank shows how experiences in Shepard’s life eventually resonate in his work by exploring the major themes, unique style, and history of Shepard’s productions. Focusing first on Shepard’s early plays, which showcase highly experimental, frenetic explorations of fractured worlds, Crank discusses how the techniques from these works evolve and translate into the major works in his “family trilogy”: Curse of the Starving Class, the Pulitzer Prize–winning Buried Child, and True West. Shepard often uses elements from his past—his relationship with his father, his struggle for control within the family, and the breakdown of the suburban American dream—as major starting points in his plays. Shepard is a recipient of a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, eleven Obie Awards, and a Chicago Tribune Literary Prize for Lifetime Achievement. Augmented with an extensive bibliography, Understanding Sam Shepard is an ideal point of entrance into complex and compelling dramas of this acclaimed playwright.


Sam Shepard

Sam Shepard

Author: Harold Bloom

Publisher: Infobase Publishing

Published: 2009

Total Pages: 115

ISBN-13: 1438116462

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Sam Shepard is one of America's most prolific dramatists, as well as a screenplay writer, memoirist, and successful film actor. His irreverent, satirical, and nostalgic treatment of American popular culture has attracted a cult following as well as the re


Book Synopsis Sam Shepard by : Harold Bloom

Download or read book Sam Shepard written by Harold Bloom and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2009 with total page 115 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sam Shepard is one of America's most prolific dramatists, as well as a screenplay writer, memoirist, and successful film actor. His irreverent, satirical, and nostalgic treatment of American popular culture has attracted a cult following as well as the re


Dis/figuring Sam Shepard

Dis/figuring Sam Shepard

Author: Johan Callens

Publisher: Peter Lang

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9789052013527

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This illustrated volume covers the career of Sam Shepard, the provocative American playwright, scriptwriter, actor, and director, through an introductory survey followed by in-depth analyses of representative selections from the one-acts (Action, States of Shock), experimental collaborations with Joseph Chaikin (Savage/Love), and by now classic family plays (Buried Child, A Lie of the Mind). It ranges from Shepard's unpublished adaptation of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus through the textual variants and political context of Operation Sidewinder to Robert Altman's movie version of Fool for Love, besides offering brief comparisons with fellow dramatists (Albee and Beckett) and visual artists (Edward Weston, Marsden Hartley). Several performance analyses supplement the textual criticism and provide a sample of European directorial approaches. Together, these takes offer a composite picture of an artist whose output over the past forty years has turned him into a figurehead of twentieth century drama, studied and produced all over the world with a keen eye for his idiosyncratic and critical view of what it means to be American.


Book Synopsis Dis/figuring Sam Shepard by : Johan Callens

Download or read book Dis/figuring Sam Shepard written by Johan Callens and published by Peter Lang. This book was released on 2007 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This illustrated volume covers the career of Sam Shepard, the provocative American playwright, scriptwriter, actor, and director, through an introductory survey followed by in-depth analyses of representative selections from the one-acts (Action, States of Shock), experimental collaborations with Joseph Chaikin (Savage/Love), and by now classic family plays (Buried Child, A Lie of the Mind). It ranges from Shepard's unpublished adaptation of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus through the textual variants and political context of Operation Sidewinder to Robert Altman's movie version of Fool for Love, besides offering brief comparisons with fellow dramatists (Albee and Beckett) and visual artists (Edward Weston, Marsden Hartley). Several performance analyses supplement the textual criticism and provide a sample of European directorial approaches. Together, these takes offer a composite picture of an artist whose output over the past forty years has turned him into a figurehead of twentieth century drama, studied and produced all over the world with a keen eye for his idiosyncratic and critical view of what it means to be American.


Zu: Sam Shepard - "Buried Child"

Zu: Sam Shepard -

Author: Alexandra Mohr

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2002-03-27

Total Pages: 24

ISBN-13: 3638118010

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Seminar paper from the year 2000 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0 (B), Humboldt-University of Berlin (American Culture Studies), course: The American Dream, language: English, abstract: Sam Shepard is known as one of the most accomplished playwrights in the United States, he also gained celebrity as an actor in a couple of American movies. He has written more than 45 plays, different screenplays, and has received 11 Obie Awards, besides a Golden Palm Award and an Oscar nomination. For the 1979 published play Buried Child he received the Pulitzer Price in the same year. This play belongs to Shepard′s trilogy of family dramas, and is probably the one which marks the change of direction in his career to a more realistic style. Critics do recognize a lot of differences compared to older plays, which are seen as surrealistic plays, or plays, which critics catogorize as parts of the Theatre of Absurd, like, for example, Fool for Love. But reading Buried Child, the reader quickly realizes that the play may have started as a realistic play, but it turns out to be totally different. Step by step, Shepard creates a sarcastic play, which also could be seen as part of the Theatre of Absurd. The play is about a farmers family living near Illinois, in the middle of nowhere. On the surface the family seems to be normal, maybe just a bit frustrated. But in the background appears to be a secret, which connects the family in a very strange way, also every single member of the family tries to keep this secret. In a brilliant way, Shepard here combines the actual with the fictional. When the audience just starts to feel comfortable with the play, the plot changes immediately and disappoints their great expectations. The following essay is divided into three main parts. The first part will give an idea of Shepard′s use of autobiographical facts, the second focuses on the father-son conflict we often find in his plays. The last part ′The Buried Child′ will be a direct interpretation of the text.


Book Synopsis Zu: Sam Shepard - "Buried Child" by : Alexandra Mohr

Download or read book Zu: Sam Shepard - "Buried Child" written by Alexandra Mohr and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2002-03-27 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2000 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0 (B), Humboldt-University of Berlin (American Culture Studies), course: The American Dream, language: English, abstract: Sam Shepard is known as one of the most accomplished playwrights in the United States, he also gained celebrity as an actor in a couple of American movies. He has written more than 45 plays, different screenplays, and has received 11 Obie Awards, besides a Golden Palm Award and an Oscar nomination. For the 1979 published play Buried Child he received the Pulitzer Price in the same year. This play belongs to Shepard′s trilogy of family dramas, and is probably the one which marks the change of direction in his career to a more realistic style. Critics do recognize a lot of differences compared to older plays, which are seen as surrealistic plays, or plays, which critics catogorize as parts of the Theatre of Absurd, like, for example, Fool for Love. But reading Buried Child, the reader quickly realizes that the play may have started as a realistic play, but it turns out to be totally different. Step by step, Shepard creates a sarcastic play, which also could be seen as part of the Theatre of Absurd. The play is about a farmers family living near Illinois, in the middle of nowhere. On the surface the family seems to be normal, maybe just a bit frustrated. But in the background appears to be a secret, which connects the family in a very strange way, also every single member of the family tries to keep this secret. In a brilliant way, Shepard here combines the actual with the fictional. When the audience just starts to feel comfortable with the play, the plot changes immediately and disappoints their great expectations. The following essay is divided into three main parts. The first part will give an idea of Shepard′s use of autobiographical facts, the second focuses on the father-son conflict we often find in his plays. The last part ′The Buried Child′ will be a direct interpretation of the text.


Two Prospectors

Two Prospectors

Author: Sam Shepard

Publisher: University of Texas Press

Published: 2013-10-15

Total Pages: 401

ISBN-13: 0292735820

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"Pulitzer Prize-winning author of plays such as True West, Fool For Love, and Buried Child, and Academy Award-nominated actor in many films, including The Right Stuff, Sam Shepard is arguably America's finest working dramatist. He has said many times that he will never write a memoir. But he has written intensively about his inner life and creative work to his former father-in-law and housemate, Johnny Dark. This book gathers nearly 40 years of their correspondence, which provides the most honest and complete record of Shepard's professional and personal lives that he is ever likely to publish. The book is illustrated with Dark's candid, revealing photographs of Shepard and their mutual family across many years, as well as facsimiles of numerous letters.It makes a perfect companion to Treva Wurmfeld's recent film, Shepard & Dark"--


Book Synopsis Two Prospectors by : Sam Shepard

Download or read book Two Prospectors written by Sam Shepard and published by University of Texas Press. This book was released on 2013-10-15 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Pulitzer Prize-winning author of plays such as True West, Fool For Love, and Buried Child, and Academy Award-nominated actor in many films, including The Right Stuff, Sam Shepard is arguably America's finest working dramatist. He has said many times that he will never write a memoir. But he has written intensively about his inner life and creative work to his former father-in-law and housemate, Johnny Dark. This book gathers nearly 40 years of their correspondence, which provides the most honest and complete record of Shepard's professional and personal lives that he is ever likely to publish. The book is illustrated with Dark's candid, revealing photographs of Shepard and their mutual family across many years, as well as facsimiles of numerous letters.It makes a perfect companion to Treva Wurmfeld's recent film, Shepard & Dark"--


Curse of the Starving Class

Curse of the Starving Class

Author: Sam Shepard

Publisher: Dramatists Play Service Inc

Published: 1976

Total Pages: 76

ISBN-13: 9780822202615

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Tells the story of a dysfunctional family living in a farmhouse they are planning to sell in the hopes of moving on to bigger and better things.


Book Synopsis Curse of the Starving Class by : Sam Shepard

Download or read book Curse of the Starving Class written by Sam Shepard and published by Dramatists Play Service Inc. This book was released on 1976 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tells the story of a dysfunctional family living in a farmhouse they are planning to sell in the hopes of moving on to bigger and better things.


The German Reception of Sam Shepard

The German Reception of Sam Shepard

Author: Carol Ann Levin Benet

Publisher:

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 658

ISBN-13:

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Book Synopsis The German Reception of Sam Shepard by : Carol Ann Levin Benet

Download or read book The German Reception of Sam Shepard written by Carol Ann Levin Benet and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 658 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:


Sam Shepard

Sam Shepard

Author: John J. Winters

Publisher: Catapult

Published: 2017-03-15

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 1619029847

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“John Winters offers a master class in literary sleuthing, untangling the many lives and unearthing the origin story of America’s foremost Renaissance man of letters.” —Kelly Horan, coauthor of Devotion and Defiance With more than fifty–five plays to his credit—including the 1979 Pulitzer Prize–winning Buried Child, an Oscar nod for his portrayal of Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff, and an onscreen persona that’s been aptly summed up as “Gary Cooper in denim”—Sam Shepard’s impact on American theater and film ranks with the greatest playwrights and actors of the past half–century. Sam Shepard: A Life gets to the heart of Sam Shepard, presenting a compelling and comprehensive account of his life and work. In a new epilogue, added by the author after Shepard’s untimely death in July of 2017, John J. Winters offers a glimpse into the enigmatic author’s last days, when very few knew he was suffering from ALS. “An excellent biography . . . Mr. Winters is especially good on the backstage of one of Mr. Shepard’s most frequently revived works, True West . . . Mr. Winters has an interesting story to tell, and he recounts it ably, bringing us close to a figure who, he admits, avoids intimacy.” —The Wall Street Journal “A new, thoroughly researched biography . . . Winters does indeed capture a personality more anxious and self–doubting than previous biographers have grasped.” —The Washington Post “Meticulously presents the facts of Shepard’s complex life along with incisive descriptions and analyses of diverse productions of Shepard’s demanding and innovative plays . . . Winters portrays Shepard as a magnetic, enigmatic, and multitalented artist drawing on a deep well of loneliness and self–questioning, keen attunement to the zeitgeist, and penetrating insight into human nature.” —Booklist (starred review)


Book Synopsis Sam Shepard by : John J. Winters

Download or read book Sam Shepard written by John J. Winters and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2017-03-15 with total page 526 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “John Winters offers a master class in literary sleuthing, untangling the many lives and unearthing the origin story of America’s foremost Renaissance man of letters.” —Kelly Horan, coauthor of Devotion and Defiance With more than fifty–five plays to his credit—including the 1979 Pulitzer Prize–winning Buried Child, an Oscar nod for his portrayal of Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff, and an onscreen persona that’s been aptly summed up as “Gary Cooper in denim”—Sam Shepard’s impact on American theater and film ranks with the greatest playwrights and actors of the past half–century. Sam Shepard: A Life gets to the heart of Sam Shepard, presenting a compelling and comprehensive account of his life and work. In a new epilogue, added by the author after Shepard’s untimely death in July of 2017, John J. Winters offers a glimpse into the enigmatic author’s last days, when very few knew he was suffering from ALS. “An excellent biography . . . Mr. Winters is especially good on the backstage of one of Mr. Shepard’s most frequently revived works, True West . . . Mr. Winters has an interesting story to tell, and he recounts it ably, bringing us close to a figure who, he admits, avoids intimacy.” —The Wall Street Journal “A new, thoroughly researched biography . . . Winters does indeed capture a personality more anxious and self–doubting than previous biographers have grasped.” —The Washington Post “Meticulously presents the facts of Shepard’s complex life along with incisive descriptions and analyses of diverse productions of Shepard’s demanding and innovative plays . . . Winters portrays Shepard as a magnetic, enigmatic, and multitalented artist drawing on a deep well of loneliness and self–questioning, keen attunement to the zeitgeist, and penetrating insight into human nature.” —Booklist (starred review)