Simpatico

by Sam Shepard

Overview

Set within the netherworld of thoroughbred racing, this hair-raisingly funny new play by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of True West explores the classical themes of memory, loyalty, and restitution. Simpatico launches readers into regions where high society meets the low life, and where, as one of the main characters observes, "someone is cutting someone else's throat."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780679763178
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/30/1996
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.25(d)

About the Author

SAM SHEPARD was the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of more than fifty-five plays, three story collections, and two works of prose fiction. As an actor, he appeared in more than sixty films, and received an Oscar nomination in 1984 for The Right Stuff. He was a finalist for the W. H. Smith Literary Award for his story collection Great Dream of Heaven. In 2012 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Trinity College, Dublin. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, received the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy, and was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. He died in 2017.

Editorial Reviews

SIMPATICO is a breathtaking succession of surprises in the writing...[It] is a major addition to this theatrical season...[SIMPATICO] is Mr. Shepard writing at his distinc-tive, savage best.

New York Times

Shepard's fascinating—if not profoundly important—new revenge tragic-comedy...seems more straightforward than most of his 45-play, 12 Obie, one Pulitzer Prize–winning career...Shepard has directed his terrific cast in a series of noir snapshots, a mosaic of scenes surrounded by a black hole, each final image held for a slow cinematic dissolve.

New York Newsday

...the tone of the play—succinct, laconic and easy-riding—is attractive, intriguing and amusing...Shepard still writes wonderful roles for actors.

New York Post

SIMPATICO is laced with echoes of film noir, as if Shepard were at once trying to imitate the genre, kid it, and defuse it, replacing the violent climaxes with pleas for mercy, compas-sion, and the healing power of time...Every speech curves in unexpected directions, and the winding progress of the scenes keeps luring you in.

Village Voice

It is like a cross between a modern film noir, Ibsenesque thriller and revenge drama.

London Evening Standard

This duo offers a full-length play and a collection of 14 shorter dramatic works from various points in Shepard's career. As one of the best of the modern crop of American playwrights, Shepard belongs in all collections. With the current Broadway outing of his 1979 play Buried Child receiving multiple Tony Award nominations, interest in the playwright and actor should increase.

Library Journal