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1 Production history  





2 Plot summary  





3 References  





4 External links  














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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 


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

    Action is a 1974 playbySam 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[edit]

    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:

    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[edit]

    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[edit]

    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.
  • ^ Winters, John J. (15 March 2017). Sam Shepard: A Life. Counterpoint. ISBN 9781619029842. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  • ^ "Sam Shepard". The Wittliff Collections. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  • External links[edit]


  • t
  • e

  • Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Action_(play)&oldid=1194353698"

    Categories: 
    1974 plays
    Plays by Sam Shepard
    1970s play stubs
    Hidden categories: 
    Articles with short description
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    All stub articles
     



    This page was last edited on 8 January 2024, at 15:44 (UTC).

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