Action (play)

Action
Written bySam Shepard
Characters
  • Shooter
  • Jeep
  • Liza
  • Lupe
Date premiered1974
Place premieredRoyal Court Theatre Upstairs, London
Original languageEnglish
GenreDrama

Action is a 1974 play by Sam Shepard. The play, which scholar Stephen J. Bottoms described as "stark" and "plotless", is considered by scholars to be among his most important works.[1] It has been compared to the work of Samuel Beckett.[2]

Production history

Action was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London, in October 1974, directed by Nancy Meckler.[1] The original cast was as follows:

  • Shooter – Steven Moore
  • Jeep – Steven Rea
  • Liza –
  • Lupe – Jennifer Stoller

The play was also performed at New York's American Place Theatre with a companion piece, Shepard's monologue Killer's Head,[1] premiered with it as a double bill.

In 1975, Sam Shepard directed a revival of the play at the Magic Theater in San Francisco, where he was artist in residence.[3]

Plot summary

Action follows two men and two women stuck in a house on Christmas, after some implied disastrous event has taken place in the world. They attempt to cook a holiday dinner and perform other domestic rituals, from the mundane like hanging laundry, to the absurd like tap dancing and pretending to be bears.

References

  1. ^ a b c Bottoms, Stephen J. (1998). The Theatre of Sam Shepard: States of Crisis. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521587914. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  2. ^ Winters, John J. (15 March 2017). Sam Shepard: A Life. Counterpoint. ISBN 9781619029842. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  3. ^ "Sam Shepard". The Wittliff Collections. Retrieved 10 April 2023.


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