Criticism > Contemporary Literary Criticism > Shepard, Sam (Vol. 169) - Susanne Willadt (essay date March 1993)

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Susanne Willadt (essay date March 1993)

SOURCE: Willadt, Susanne. “States of War in Sam Shepard's States of Shock.” Modern Drama 36, no. 1 (March 1993): 147-66.

[In the following essay, Willadt analyzes the structure of States of Shock, emphasizing Shepard's sense of machismo and his portrayal of relationships between men.]

I

After a six-year silence, Sam Shepard, formerly one of the most prolific and most produced American playwrights, finally returned to the American theater with States of Shock. The play was first presented by The American Place Theatre in New York City on April 30, 1991, for a very limited run.¹ As has been the case for so many other Shepard plays before, States of Shock was eagerly anticipated by New York, theater critics as an opportunity to fight another critical war about Shepard. Shepard has always had what Walter Kerr, the “high priest” of the New York...

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Robert Brustein (review date 27 January 1986)
   2. Gerald Weales (review date 14 February 1986)
   3. David Wyatt (essay date spring 1992)
   4. Donald L. Carveth (essay date fall 1992)
   5. Robert B. Heilman (essay date fall 1992)
   6. Sam Shepard and Carol Rosen (interview date March 1993)
   7. Susanne Willadt (essay date March 1993)
   8. Robert Brustein (review date 2 January 1995)
   9. Robert Brustein (essay date 15-22 July 1996)
   10. Sam Shepard and Stephanie Coen (interview date September 1996)
   11. Francis King (review date 16 November 1996)
   12. Don Shewey (essay date July/August 1997)
   13. Susan Harris Smith (essay date 1998)
   14. Sam Shepard and Michael Phillips (interview date 8 November 2000)
   15. Michael Phillips (review date 17 November 2000)
   16. Katherine Duncan-Jones (review date 23 July 2001)
   17. Ann Wilson (essay date 2001)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright