Sam Shepard always seemed to be at the front of the stagecoach when it came to writing that was not self-aware, but at the same time utterly mad, and utterly visionary.  This is not un-self-aware, and it’s not a review of Lie of the Mind, but might be a reflection on mortality.  I hope it’s not poignant, nor too self-conscious.  Either way, this is very shaky ground, because I am from a certain generation that came of age when Shepard was already recognized as one of the major writers of the generation that came before us.  The stories we heard about were apocryphal and sometimes apocalyptic, but always interesting, because he had some secrets that he kept secret.
In a field where everyone tells you everything about themselves, to the point where they believe there are no lies or shadows left hidden in their souls, it was refreshing to meet a hero that prescribed hiding out.  It’s ironic and not that www.newyorkbroadwaytickets.net  is offering seats for the revival of his Lie of the Mind, directed by Ethan Hawke.  It’s got a great cast, and all the signs point to a solid work that everyone will probably pan anyway, just because that’s what they do.

But the real irony comes when I think about how we were coming of age right on the heels of Buried Child.  A few of us who liked to escape in libraries would find the copies of his early work, and realize that this was a reckless genius who was telling our stories, about our addictions, our demons, and our families.  There was something of a reluctant shaman about Sam, which later proved to be a mantle he’d throw off like Dylan, one of our other heroes.  Ethan Hawke was just becoming popular in those years.  To see that he’s directing the work, and what was once our present is now called a revival, this suggests that the wheel has truly spun another round, and there’s a generation of kids right now who just might have a sense that there’s something of a liberation in the visionary, along with a number of traps, if they care to ask for advice from the ones who came before.