"Buried Child" by Sam Shepard (Third Eye Theatre) March 22, 2007

Third Eye Theatre presents
“Buried Child” by Sam Shepard
a macabre look at a family cursed with a secret;
Oedipus Rex set in Midwestern America

February 21, 2007 – Portland, OR, Third Eye Theatre presents Sam Shepard’s Buried Child, Winner of the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and world renowned playwright Sam Shepard’s breakthrough play.

In Buried Child, an Illinois farming family degenerates into a state of despair because of a hidden secret. The sudden arrival of an estranged grandson and his girlfriend brings an opportunity for discovery, redemption, and sanity.

Third Eye Theatre will be presenting the 1997 version of Buried Child, as reworked and authorized by Sam Shepard.

Opens March 16, 2007 - Closes April 14, 2007.

March 16(F), 17 (Sat), 22 (Th) 23 (Fri), 24 (Sat), 25(Sun), 29 (T), 30 (F), 31 (Sat)
April 1(Sun) 5(Th), 6 (F), 7 (Sat), 8(Sun), 12 (F), 13 (Fri), 14 (Sat)
All shows start at 8pm, except Sunday shows starting at 2pm.

Backdoor Theatre, 4219 SE Hawthorne Blvd, in the Belmont neighborhood.

Reservation : (503) 970-8874

General Admission $18. Student with ID $15. PATA Members with card $15.
Group discount (5 or more) $15 each patron.
Three students for two, $20 for 3 students with ID.
Cash and check only at door.
Credit Cards accepted via website ONLY

Buried Child, Wikipedia Entry
Buried Child is a play by Sam Shepard that won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright.
Buried Child premiered at Theater for the New City in New York City on October 19, 1978. Theatre critic Harold Clurman wrote, in The Nation, "What strikes the ear and eye is comic, occasionally hilarious behavior and speech at which one laughs while remaining slightly puzzled and dismayed (if not resentful), and perhaps indefinably saddened. Yet there is a swing to it all, a vagrant freedom, a tattered song."
The show was revived for a two month run on Broadway in 1996 following a production at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. The production, directed by Gary Sinise at the Brooks Atkinson Theater, was nominated for five Tony Awards but did not win any. The script for the production had been reworked by Shepard from the original, allegedly fixing edits that the original director had made to the text without Shepard's authorization.
Plot summary
The setting is a squalid farm home occupied by a family filled with suppressed violence and an unease born of deep-seated unhappiness. The characters are a ranting, alcoholic grandfather; a sanctimonious grandmother who goes on drinking bouts with the local minister; and their sons, Tilden, an All-American footballer now a hulking semi-idiot; and Bradley, who has lost one leg to a chain saw. Into their midst comes Vince, a grandson none of them recognizes or remembers, and his girlfriend, Shelly, who cannot comprehend the madness to which she is suddenly introduced. The family harbors a dark secret - years earlier the grandfather, Dodge, had buried an unwanted newborn baby in an undisclosed spot, creating a cloud of guilt which dispelled only when Tilden unearths the child's mummified remains and carries it upstairs to his mother. His act purges the family, at last, of its infamy, and suggests the perhaps slim possibility of a new beginning under Vince, whose estrangement from the others has spared him the taint of their sin.
Text edition
• Sam Shepard, Buried Child, New York: Dramatist's Play Service, 1997, ISBN 0-8222-1511-X
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buried_Child

Artistic Director’s Notes
The quest for identity and emotional freedom is at the core of the human experience, as well as a common thread in all of Sam Shepard’s work. Buried Child, Shepard’s 1979 Pulitzer Prize winner, is the embodiment of this basic human need. In the beginning of Act II, Vince returns home with his girlfriend Shelly after being on hiatus for six years. Much to his surprise, he finds that neither his grandfather (Dodge) nor father (Tilden) recognizes him. This literal display of misplaced identity, coupled with a fragmentary approach to characterization, creates a doubled-edged sword which Shepard uses to cut away the external layers of public persona and expose the very core of human identity.
"Instead of the idea of a 'whole character' with logical motives behind his behavior which the actor submerges himself into," Shepard wrote, "he should consider instead a fractured whole with bits and pieces of characters flying off the central theme. Collage construction, jazz improvisation. Music or painting in space."1 Shepard uses this characterization in Buried Child to provide a launching-pad for Vince’s discovery of self. `Vince abandons his girlfriend Shelly for the evening, and returns the next day as a transformed individual. Upon Vince’s return, he is greeted as the “prodigal son” and promptly inherits the family farm, as well as his identity for the first time. “I just inherited a house,” he tells his poor, mistreated girlfriend, “I’ve finally been recognized. Didn’t you hear?” It is this search for purpose in the midst of chaos that will be at the heart of Third Eye Theatre’s production of Buried Child.
Alacias Enger
Artistic Director, Third Eye Theatre
Cast & Crew Biographies
Jon Lee (Dodge)
A native of Portland, I am delighted to see this exciting theatre culture blossom, right here at home, with brave new companies like Third Eye. Recent appearances: as Hollywood, in ‘Reindeer Monologues’, by Jeff Goode, as Choobukov, ‘The Proposal’, Anton Chekhov, Boris Kolenkhov, in ‘Can’t Take It With You’, Moss & Hart. Gonzalo, in The Tempest, Shakespeare, and Westmoreland, Chief Justice, Silence, in Henry the Fourth, II, Shakespeare (audio recording by Speak-the-Speech). Short films, ‘V is for Vole’ 1011 Films (Sam Kretchmar, producer/director), Horace, in ‘Darwin Award’ (Christopher Wilson), Pawn Shop Owner, ‘The New Scarf’, (Kumar Krish).

Maggie McOmie (Halie)
After completing her B.A. in Theatre Arts in San Francisco she was cast there in George Lucas' first feature film THX-1138. Short films followed, then motherhood and dropping out to raise her daughter.

Maggie's dormant acting career resumed a few years ago when she was cast in several short and feature films while living in Southern California.
The lure of grandchildren brought her to Portland last summer. She likes it here, and is grateful for the opportunity to wear her collection of sweaters and raincoats - and for the chance to play the challenging role of Halie.



Robert Cohn (Father Dewis)


Robert is a recent transplant from Los Angeles; where he performed in theater, in film and on television. He is also an accomplished sculptor and mask-maker.

"The Buried Child" is his first performance in Portland and if he can ever get used to the weather he looks forward to becoming part of the Northwestern creative scene.

Pierre Brulatour (Tilden)


I am a graduate of the NYU Experimental Theatre Wing and have worked extensively in theatre, film and television for the last 22 years.

I am a fan of Sam Shepard's work and have also performed in "A Lie of the Mind", "Angel City" and "Suicide in B Flat". My last Portland appearance was as Noah in "The Rainmaker" at the West End Theatre.

Royal Hebert (Bradley)
Although he’s been acting since he was about four years old, Royal’s professional career began in 1999 when he graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. He has been seen in various productions in New York, Chicago, and Washington D.C. Since 2005, he has worked with many Portland production companies including Ensemble Loupan, The Mt. Hood Repertory Theatre Company, Northwest Children’s Theater, and the Christmas Revels, and ongoing appearances as Main Mast with the B.O.O.M Pirates. He was also seen as Garcin in Third Eye Theatre’s first production, No Exit, and is very much looking forward to the next show, Das Barbecu.


Ira Kortum (Vince)
A founding member of Third Eye Theatre and its current general manager, Ira has been performing for over 20 years, and he has waited 15 years to perform Buried Child.

He has played the roles of Alfred Packer in ‘Cannibal the Musical’ and Lloyd Kauffman/ The Mayor in ‘Toxic Avenger the Musical!’

He holds a Master of Science in theater from Portland State University.

Alacias "Lacy" Enger (Shelly)
A founding member of Third Eye Theatre and its Artistic Director, Lacy is excited to be a part of Third Eye Theatre's production of ‘Buried Child.’ Alacias was last seen as Valet in Third Eye Theatre's fall production of Sartre's ‘No Exit’ and will appear in the upcoming summer production, ‘Das Barbecu.’

Alacias has been seen around Portland's theatre seen in as Poly Pry in "Cannibal the Musical," Gladys in "Pal Joey," and "Hair." Alacias received her B.A. in Theatre Arts from Portland State University in 2003, and went on to study musical theatre in NYC at the American Music and Dramatic Academy.

About Third Eye Theatre
“Theatre without vision is like music without sound.”

Third Eye Theatre is an ensemble theatre company that places theatre back into the hands of the performer, and calls on our patrons to join with us in our endeavor to find and produce art that is visionary, and illuminates the human condition in unconventional ways.

Started in 2005, Third Eye Theater presented its world debut production with Jean-Paul Satre’s No Exit in September 2006. The continuing 2006-2007 season includes Buried Child in March 2007 and Das Barbecu in summer of 2007.

On March 1, 2007, Third Eye Theatre will gain control over the historical Village Ballroom (formerly the Scarlet Ballroom and the Rose City Ballroom) in Northeast Portland with its partner company, The Tragedies. This joint venture will create a community space offering classes, performances and educational programs. Third Eye Theatre will house its planned conservatory theater program for local at-risk youths in the Village Ballroom.

Third Eye Theatre is incorporated in the state of Oregon as a Public Benefit Corporation, and recognized, under IRS’s 501(c)3, as a non-profit, tax-exempted organization.

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Official Website: http://www.thirdeyetheatre.org