In my opinion, the 1996 production of Buried Child successfully captures the essence of Sam Shepard’s play. It accurately reflects his stage directions and dialogue and on a more thematic note, it conveys the themes and messages that Shepard intended to relay. For one, Shepard hoped to illustrate a dysfunctional American family that challenged the accepted notions of domestic, nuclear relations. From the first scene, only Vince is seen, engaging in a seemingly endless yelling match. The degradation and rasp in Hallie’s voice is essential to her character. The fact that she is not on stage shows how impersonal and destroyed their romance is and her insistence that Vince strain his voice demonstrates her lack of concern for his deteriorating health. Throughout the performance, the actors’ tones are consistently strained and angry and the set design is dark and gloomy. Dreariness is exuded in every portion of the play, mimicking Shepard’s morbid writing style. Furthermore, the concept of hiding behind a mysterious reality is exquisitely portrayed. Physically, characters are oftentimes hidden. Vince is buried beneath a blanket for most of the play, also going back to the overarching secret of a buried child. The secrets within and between the characters is evident; unknown facts of the past swirl the stage’s atmosphere, but most of them are never revealed, contributing to the production’s uncertainty. The question of what happened to Tilden in New Mexico, the possibilities surrounding Ansel’s potential, and the general motif of family secrets are exemplifying of the play’s distorted reality and sense of uncertainty.
1996 Broadway Production of Buried Child
This entry was posted in Due Oct. 10th @noon. Bookmark the permalink.
I really like your analysis. Yes, Shepard has a very morbid style of writing – the final scene where Tilden carries out his buried child really freaked me out, along with when Bradley stuck his hand into Shelly’s mouth as a sign of dominance. Vince’s constant despair at being unnoticed by his family really riled me up as well (Note: Dodge is the old man on the couch, not Vince). I also really like the point you brought up of characters hiding themselves too: even the pastor hid his true, insincere self behind a mask and name of a spiritual leader, Bradley hid his own cowardliness behind a mask of forceful dominance, and Hallie and Vince are unseen for the majority of the play. The only person who really doesn’t hide much about themself is Shelly.
This analyzation is very detailed. I completely agree with the fact that the actor’s tones are angry and that the atmosphere is quite gloomy. I found myself feeling the depression of all the characters while I was watching the play. The second part which I found that you pointed out perfectly was the mystery surrounding the play. It is clearly evident that the characters are hiding a secret and constantly try to neglect reality.By the way, Dodge is the one buried under the blanket for most of the play. His health is indeed constantly deteriorating as he takes every moment he can to smoke and drink whiskey. I also pointed out that the play does an amazing job at displaying Shepherds themes. Finally, I love your analysis of Halie. I never thought that her voice could be such an important part of her character.
Hello
In my opinion, the innate character of many children is hidden and appearing at an early age
And it seems to me that it depends on the attitude and culture of the family