SOURCE: Wilson, Ann. “Great Expectations: Language and the Problem of Presence in Sam Shepard's Writing.” In Modern Dramatists: A Casebook of Major British, Irish, and American Playwrights, edited by Kimball King, pp. 257-72. New York and London: Routledge, 2001.

In the following essay, Wilson examines the issue of linguistic “presence” in Shepard's plays, exploring the theological dimension of Shepard's dramatic language.

Walt Whitman was a great man. He expected something from America. He had this great expectation.

—Sam Shepard, Action

Sam Shepard is the pre-eminent playwright of the contemporary American theatre. His work has received numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for Buried Child. Despite his success, Shepard has not always felt comfortable identifying himself as a writer. In the program note to Cowboy Mouth, the play which he co-wrote with Patti Smith, he announced, “I don't want to be a playwright, I want to be a rock...