File on Shepard

by John Dugdale (Compiler)

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy

Paperback

First published April 1, 1989

Reviews

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This playwright-focused pamphlet relates an Anglophiliac bias when surveying Shepard's work, which is weird when you consider how intrinsically American he is. I'd have preferred to have heard other stateside reactions outside NYC over so much London representation/interpretation. Or to have thrown the net even wider for an aggregate of reactions from Hong Kong, Sydney, Paris, Buenos Aires, etc. More helpful is the extensive list of productions (citing directors, premiere dates, locations...). A few plays I've never read or seen: "Up to Thursday," "Dog," "Blue Bitch," "Little Ocean," "Jacaranda," "Inacoma," "Nightwalk," and "Superstitions." That's enough for a new collection! "File on Shepard" is naturally interesting when quoting the playwright himself. But since the mini-book ends around the time of "A Lie of the Mind," it's missing 30 years of his career. Ultimately, "File on Shepard" is a literary equivalent of a woman's magazine chanced upon in the dentist's office. Theater-lovers will be diverted for an hour or two. If they're stuck in the waiting room longer, there's always another issue from the series on Ayckbourn on Churchill or Wesker.