Play: Buried Child

Introduction
"Buried Child" is a three-act play composed by Sam Shepard in 1978. A dark and surreal exploration of rural disintegration, family tricks, and the disillusionment of the American Dream, the play won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Set on a crumbling farm in Illinois, the drama revolves around an extremely inefficient household haunted by the catastrophe and dark tricks of its past. The story weaves together styles of identity, alienation, and the destructive impact of shame and regret.

Act One
The play opens in the living room of an old, rotting farmhouse where the elderly Dodge, an ill and peevish man, pushes the couch, chain-smoking and coughing. He is cared for by his long-suffering partner, Halie, who talks at length about their preacher, a guy she appears to appreciate a little too much. Their kid, Tilden, a middle-aged previous all-star American football player who was restored from New Mexico after entering difficulty with the law, enters the space, covered in mud and clutching an armful of fresh corn. Dodge is confused as the field needs to be barren after decades of disuse.

Tilden mentions a dark trick about a buried child-- a possible outcome of incest between Tilden and Halie-- which may have resulted in the decay of their household and farm. We find out of their other kid, Bradley, who is a belligerent amputee with a wood leg. Bradley gets in your house and smears his dad's confront with shaving cream, then shaves him incompetently, embarrassing Dodge and establishing Bradley's aggressive character.

Act Two
The play resumes with Tilden bringing in an armful of carrots, which he continues to clean up at the cooking area sink. Vince, the 22-year-old grand son of Dodge and Halie, arrives with his sweetheart, Shelly. They are en path to New Mexico to see his father, Tilden. Vince is perplexed and disturbed when Dodge and Tilden fail to acknowledge him, in spite of not having actually seen him for six years.

When Halie returns house with Father Dewis, the preacher, she becomes hysterical and tries to fend off Vince, thinking he may be a risk. Bradley ends up being aggressive and demands Vince's automobile keys, threatening Shelly. In an act of defiance, Shelly steals Bradley's wood leg, requiring him to crawl away. After Vince leaves to purchase liquor, Shelly, left alone with Tilden, hears more about the mystical buried child. Tilden vaguely validates that the baby was indeed the product of incest between him and Halie and that Dodge killed and buried it in the backyard.

Act Three
As the play concludes, Vince returns drunk, baffled, and desperate for his household's acknowledgment. In an attempt to prove his identity, he reveals them photos, but Dodge firmly insists that he just recognizes himself in the images. Shelly chooses to leave Vince and the farm, however first forces Dodge to come clean about the buried child.

With her confession, Halie reveals the truth that Vince is the kid of Tilden and Halie, and that he had been removed from the household while he was still an infant to conceal the incest. In a monstrous routine, Tilden enters, holding the remains of the buried child. Dodge dies on the sofa, and Halie tries futilely to call for aid, as Tilden carries the bones of the kid upstairs.

Conclusion
"Buried Child" is a cooling and compelling portrayal of the disintegration of a household strained by the weight of its dark secrets. Through brilliant characters and haunting imagery, Shepard exposes the disillusionment of the American Dream and the agonizing effects of guilt, embarassment, and a desperate search for identity. The play stays a skillful exploration of the human psyche and a long-lasting classic of the American theatre.