Sam Shepard’s play, Buried Child, has an essence of disconnection which is strongly captured in its 1996 production. Right from the very start, when Dodge is viewed on stage and Hallie starts talking, it is easy to see how Hallie appears to be concerned for Dodge and wants him to take his pills to make him stop coughing, and at the same time, she is constantly talking and yelling at him from the top of the stairs, forcing him to repeat himself and yell back to her, which only increases it. Hallie also constantly talks and runs around the house, acting seemingly busy, but it is obvious that she actually has nothing important at all to do. Tilden, their son, seems almost like a mere shadow in the house, constantly hiding behind Dodge’s commands and speaking as little as he can, avoiding all conversation and yet somehow being in the middle of it all. Bradley’s introduction to the scene makes it easy to see how he seems to think the world involves only his desires, since in the past he apparently was forced to listen to other’s commands, and Vince tries to make himself known to the rest of his family, only to run out of the house in despair when no one recognizes him. The 1996 production also capture’s Shelly’s character extremely well. In this house of disconnect, she is the only one who seems to have some sort of awareness of reality, and is the only one who tries to bring order to the house. The “Buried Child” script made me feel like Shelly was someone who feared the family, and yet wanted to do something to make the house feel more like a “home”. The production also makes Shelly have these strong feelings, as she constantly pulls Vince aside and begs to leave, and yet she acts so comfortably around Dodge once she feels more “at home” and tries to instill the same feeling into the other characters (expect Bradley, for obvious reasons).
