What if the characters you created in your plays were to come to life and challenge the lives and circumstances you created for them?
Compelling and impassioned performances with emotionally nuanced moments
Unseen Shepard finds Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard reclined on his chaise. This is to be the last night of his life. Wanting only peace and quiet he instead has to suffer the torments of a host of characters demanding that he rewrite their roles and take them out of the misery they have endured for years. Among them are writers, cowboys, abusive husbands, punk rockers and long-suffering women. He protests that he can do nothing; what is written is written and cannot be changed. But they put up a fight and even argue among themselves recreating scenes from the plays in which they are trapped.
Los Angeles-based Eagle Rock Theatre Company was started in 2019 by veteran stage and screen actor Nic D’Avirro and actor-writer Matt Braaten who features in this play along with Matt Foyer and Cameron Meyer. Their intention was to provide a launch pad for new writing. D’Avirro died unexpectedly while planning for the 2021 Fringe and this year's production is dedicated to his memory.
Unseen Shepard is a fine example of an imaginative and tightly focussed script that allows actors to fully develop their characters. Martin Jago directs with precision and the cast give compelling and impassioned performances with emotionally nuanced moments.
The concept behind Unseen Shepard is a fascinatingly surreal providing for a penetrating exploration of a writer’s legacy and responsibilities.
