The Traditional Regression Of The Avant-garde Theater - Analysis Of Sam Shepard's Plays And Artistic Features

With the flourish of the Off-Off Broadway movement,the 1960's American theater saw the emergence of a particularly promising playwright,Sam Shepard. His probing into dramaturgy is embodied in both his early experimental works and his later realistic dramas. The article attempts to classify his works into three groups thematically and chronologically:1) collage 2) fantasy 3) family plays. The complicated themes and writing techniques of the three groups are also discussed here. Then the article deals with the conspicuous imagery,disagreeable characters,distinctive language and other theatrical devices in Shepard's plays,hence to explore the playwright's understanding to American history,reality and American Dream. Finally,emphasis is laid on Shepard's relationship to Avant-garde theatre and counterculture.