Sam Shepard and the “True” West

Abstract

The theater of Sam Shepard has almost emblematically been considered the epitome of the American, particularly the Southwestern, myth of the frontier and, hence, the vastness and masculine expansiveness it traditionally symbolizes. However, Shepard’s theatre attains, I believe, its true potential only when approached in the perspective of the (Neo)Baroque paradigm. Therefore, this article will indicate an alternative manner of interpreting his dramatic thought; the manner, which, as I will argue, allows for re-contextualizing the position of Shepard on the American stage.