Buried Child | Essays and Criticism

  • The Harvest Ritual

    In this essay, Lane A. Glenn examines the importance of the harvest ritual to the plot and character construction of Buried Child.

  • Shepard's Choice

    Examining Shepard's dual career as a Hollywood actor and an experimental playwright, Robert Brustein reviews the heralded 1996 revival of Buried Child, for which Shepard both revised and wrote new material. Comparing the play with the author's autobiographical Cruising Paradise, the critic finds that while the play deals with difficult themes, it is ultimately deserving of its status as a modern classic

  • The Good Shepard

    Calling Buried Child ‘‘Shepard's best play,’’ John Simon reviews the 1996 revival. The critic offers a highly favorable appraisal of the work, calling it ‘‘as good of its kind as it gets.’’