Fool for love is a 1985 american drama film directed by robert altman. Jan 29, 2010 sadie frost and carl barat in fool for love c asting two inexperienced stage actors in sam shepard s mythic play is a bit like asking novice pianists to start with a chopin sonata. Fool for love sam shepard 19432017 pictures cbs news. The play is filled with love, hate, anger, betrayal, lust, abandonment, codependence and most important, a very sordid relationship that is shocking. At the center of sam shepards fool for love are two people whose hurts are so deep, whose angers are so real, that they can barely talk about what they really feel. He wrote several books including cruising paradise and motel chronicles. Click to read more about fool for love by sam shepard. Publication date 1983 topics american drama 20th century, american drama, plays. Fool for love and other plays sam shepard, ross wetzsteon on. The film stars sam shepard, who also wrote both the original play and the adaptations screenplay, alongside kim basinger, harry dean stanton, randy quaid and martha crawford. Fool for love is a dynamic, hard thrusting, tense play that is meant to be performed without a break. The new republicsam shepard is the most exciting presence in the movie world and one of the most gifted. Fool for love angel city geography of a horse dreamer action cowboy mouth melodrama play seduced suicide in bbwith an introduction by ross wetzsteonsam shepard is phenomenal.
In fool for love, sam shepard analyzes the complicated relationship between may and eddie who are involved in a love hate, fascinationrepulsion 15yearlong relation which is once more in the on again phase. Fool for love and other plays by sam shepard biz books. Fool for love and other plays contains eight of pulitzerprizewinning sam shepards most stunning plays, with an introduction by ross wetzsteon. Sam shepard biography, age, family, wife, career, death and. It is known that the play has autobiographical elements. He briefly studied agriculture at mount san antonio college, but dropped out to move to new york in 1962. He calls eddie a fantasist, perhaps a reference to sam shepard s fathers attitude towards his sons role as a playwright who imagines things for a living and. Sam shepard starred with kim basinger in the film version of his play fool for love 1985, directed by robert altman. If you are new to the work of sam shepherd, this award winning oneact play is a good one to begin, as some of his work can be rather complicated. In a lowbudget motel room on the outskirts of the mojave desert where may has been living, eddie and may sit without speaking to each othershe with her head between her knees over the side of the bed, and he in a chair.
Sam shepard and jessica lange, 1983 photograph courtesy of university of texas press. I love the stage directions, which call for over the top dramatics, banging and echoing walls, lights that pierce the audience, and gasoline fires. The old man offers different points of view on may and eddies past and for the most part denies any fault in their present troubled state. Yet as may and eddie perform the savage, cyclical dance that is sam shepards fool for love, which opened in a breathtaking production on thursday night at the samuel j.
Smith literary award for his story collection great dream of. The play focuses on may and eddie, former lovers who have met again in a motel in the desert. At the center of sam shepard s fool for love are two people whose hurts are so deep, whose angers are so real, that they can barely talk about what they really feel. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Calling all the dreamers, the lovers, the gamblers. He wrote fool for love after leaving his wife, olan, for movie actress, jessica lange and has a. This brilliant american dramatist creates what the new yorker. City lights books, love, hate, and myths of the old west are evidenced in violent confrontation between halfbrother and halfsister, who happen to be lovers. Fool for love and other plays by sam shepard, paperback. Holed up in a seedy motel on the edge of the mojave desert, two former lovers unpack the deep secrets and dark desires of their tangled relationship, passionately tearing each other apart. Fool for love, sam shepard western the new york times.
Fool for love and other plays here are eight of pulitzerprizewinning sam shepards most stunning plays. We usually sense that there must have been true love at some point. The film stars sam shepard, who also wrote both the original play and the adaptations screenplay. He received the pulitzer prize for drama for buried child in 1978. That does not stop them from talking, on and on into the hurtful night, and eventually we can put together their sto ries, using what they have said, and especially what they have not said. Sam shepard as the farmer in the 1978 film days of heaven. Eddies character contains autobiographical elements of sam shepards life. Buy a cheap copy of fool for love book by sam shepard. Samuel shepard rogers iii november 5, 1943 july 27, 2017, known professionally as sam shepard, was an american actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. A member of the american academy of arts and letters, shepard received the gold medal for drama from the academy in 1992, and in 1994 he was inducted into the theatre hall of fame. From buried child which just finished an offbroadway run, to fool for love, which was recently on broadway, and which we will be looking at today. Smith literary award for his story collection great. May is waiting for her boyfriend in a rundown motel in new mexico, when an old flame turns up and threatens to undermine her efforts and drag her back into. Mar 20, 2010 sam shepard as the farmer in the 1978 film days of heaven.
The play focuses on may and eddie, former lovers who have met again in a motel. Its one of shepards best known plays, familiar because there was a movie version starring shepard himself, but fool for love is rarely produced on local stages. Fool for love is accompanied in this volume by the sad lament of pecos bill on the eve of killing his wife, a comic operetta by sam shepard and catherine stone, which takes an irreverent view of american heroes and heroicsmore. In fool for love, sam shepard analyzes the complicated relationship between may and eddie who are involved in a lovehate, fascinationrepulsion 15yearlong relation which is once more in the on again phase. Finalist for the 1984 pulitzer prize for drama and winner of the obie award. Hilton als on a revival of sam shepards fool for love at the samuel j. The play focuses on might and eddie, former lovers united nations agency have met once more in an exceedingly motor hotel within the desert. Fool for love duchess in love by james, eloisa and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Shepards home base, the magic theater of san francisco, complete with the original cast under the authors direction. Buy fool for love and other plays reissue by shepard, sam isbn. May, eddie, and the old man are on stage when the lights come upthe old man separated physically from may and eddie either on a different platform or another dividing convention of the set. Danielle scott as may maximilian spears as eddie ray graham as old man and zachary leonard as martin. The play premiered in 1983 at the magic theatre in san francisco, where shepard was the playwrightinresidence.
Eddies character contains autobiographical elements of sam shepard s life. The american academy of dramatic arts recommends fool for love for female monologues. Holed up in a seedy motel on the edge of the mojave desert, two former lovers unpack the deep secrets and dark desires of their tangled relationship. Fresh news of love, here and now, in all its potency, deviousness, and foolishness, and of many other matters as well. We watch a pair of figurative gunslingers fight to the finishnot with bullets, but with piercing words that give ballast to the weight of a nations buried dreamsas shepard s people race verbally through the debris of the west, they search for the identities and familial roots that have disappeared with the landscape of legend. His plays included chicago, the tooth of crime, true west, fool for love, a lie of the mind, the late henry moss, heartless, and a particle of dread. Equal parts tragic, grim, terrifying, and funny, fool for love is the story of two angry and thwarted lovers with a horrible secret. He won ten obie awards for writing and directing, the most won by any writer or director. Eddie shares his love of liquor with the old man and seems to share the same sense of humor. This brilliant american dramatist creates what the new yorker dubbed shepard country a landscape of the imagination, a unique theatrical experience that captures our culture and consciousness, our fears and fantasies. Friedman, starring sam rockwell, nina arianda, and gordon joseph. Fool for love sad lament of pecos bill on the eve of killings his wife notes. He also wrote songs with john cale and bob dylan including brownsville girl.
Fool for love acting edition acting edition for theater. Fool for love and other plays by sam shepard librarything. Fool for love angel city melodrama play cowboy mouth action suicide in bflat seduced geography of a horse dreamer. Friedman, starring sam rockwell, nina arianda, and gordon joseph weiss. Fool for love is a play written by yankee writer and actor dramatist. The tooth of crime, true west, fool for love, a lie of the mind. Set in a lowbudget motel room on the edge of the mojave desert, may and eddie play out an unpredictable encounter.
One important symbolic element is the walls of the motel suggesting confinement, perhaps in. In plays by sam shepard, however, we expect toxicity and violence. This brilliant american dramatist creates what the new yorker dubbed shepard country a landscape of the imagination, a unique theatrical experience that captures our culture and consciouness, our fears and fantasies. Fool for love is a fulllength comedic drama by sam shepard. Shepard s home base, the magic theater of san francisco, complete with the original cast under the authors direction. He wrote fool for love after leaving his wife, olan, for movie actress, jessica lange and has a complicated past with his heavydrinking father. Patricks day the following year, shortly after the premiere of his play fool for love, shepard moved into langes cabin in northern minnesota near bob dylans birthplace, which he described to dark as a town right out of kerouac.
Sam shepard is the pulitzer prizewinning author of more than fortyfive plays. Catherine stone the fools in the play are battling lovers at a mojave desert motel. Curse of the starving class, buried child, and true west. Oct 09, 2015 yet as may and eddie perform the savage, cyclical dance that is sam shepards fool for love, which opened in a breathtaking production on thursday night at the samuel j. This brilliant american dramatist creates what the new yorker dubbed shepard.
Through searing truth and dark humor, fool for love shows the story o. Fool for love is a play written by american playwright and actor sam shepard. The play is part of a quintet which includes shepards family trilogy. Fool for love and other plays by shepard, sam, 1943publication date 1984 topics american drama publisher toronto. We watch a pair of figurative gunslingers fight to the finishnot with bullets, but with piercing words that give ballast to the weight of a nations buried dreamsas shepards people race verbally through the debris of the west, they search for the identities and familial roots that have disappeared with the landscape of legend. Sam shepard biography, age, family, wife, career, death. This brilliant american dramatist creates what the new yorker dubbed shepard countrya landscape of the imagination, a unique theatrical experience that captures our culture and consciouness, our fears and fantasies. The play was a finalist for the 1984 pulitzer prize for drama. Sadie frost and carl barat in fool for love c asting two inexperienced stage actors in sam shepards mythic play is a bit like asking novice pianists to start with a chopin sonata. Fool for love by shepard, sam and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. May 27, 1983 fool for love has been transported here from mr. May is hiding out at said motel when an old childhood friend and old flame, eddie, shows up. Shes just standing there, staring at me, and im staring back at her and we can take our eyes off each other. The american academy of dramatic arts recommends fool for love for female monologues fool for love is a fulllength comedic drama by sam shepard.
Sam shepard books list of books by author sam shepard. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. The scene is a stark motel room at the edge of the mojave desert. Sam shepard was born samuel shepard rogers iii on an army base in illinois on november 5, 1943. His plays are crazy, physical, slightly confusing bundles of emotion.
32 204 907 404 201 1568 209 882 1482 685 292 156 422 394 941 281 43 604 280 73 1373 117 519 76 926 826 1570 847 1419 348 724 100 391 51 1157 732 953 199