Buried Child
by Sam Shepard


Awards & Recognition
Winner! 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Nominee: Five 1996 Tony Awards, including Best Play Nominee: Two 2016 Lucille Lortel Awards
Synopsis
In a decaying farmhouse in rural Illinois, a family filled with suppressed violence and an unease born of deep-seated unhappiness confront their ghosts in this haunting examination of the disintegration of the American Dream.
At the center of the family is a ranting alcoholic grandfather, a sanctimonious grandmother who goes on drinking bouts with the local minister, and their sons, Tilden, an All-American footballer now a hulking idiot, and Bradley, who has lost one leg to a chain saw.
Into their midst comes Vince, a grandson none of them recognizes or remembers, and his girlfriend, Shelly, who cannot comprehend the madness to which she is suddenly introduced.
The family harbors a dark secret that will leave audiences speechless after the curtain falls on this poetic drama.
Press Reviews
"Mr. Shepard is an uncommon playwright and uncommonly gifted."
— The New York Times
Characters
| Character |
|---|
Halie Dodge’s wife; mid-sixties. |
Tilden Their oldest son. |
Bradley Their next oldest son, an amputee. |
Vince Tilden’s son. |
Shelley Vince’s girlfriend. |
Father Dewis A Protestant minister. |
Dodge In his seventies. |
Videos
Buried Child – Broadway Trailer
Publication
Buried Child is a play written by Sam Shepard and published by Dramatists Play Service (1997).
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Buy Play
Paperback
Dramatists Play Service · 1997 · 75 pp
Performance Rights
Restrictions: Major Markets Plus (US) / Standard Plus Add'l Postcodes (UK)
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