| Action | |
| Premiere: | 1974 |
| Place: | Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London |
| Orig Lang: | English |
| Genre: | Drama |
Action is a 1974 play by Sam Shepard. The play, which scholar Stephen J. Bottoms described as "stark" and "plotless", is considered by scholars to be among his most important works.[1] It has been compared to the work of Samuel Beckett.[2]
Action was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London, in October 1974, directed by Nancy Meckler. The original cast was as follows:
The play was also performed at New York's American Place Theatre with a companion piece, Shepard's monologue Killer's Head, premiered with it as a double bill.
In 1975, Sam Shepard directed a revival of the play at the Magic Theater in San Francisco, where he was artist in residence.[3]
Action follows two men and two women stuck in a house on Christmas, after some implied disastrous event has taken place in the world. They attempt to cook a holiday dinner and perform other domestic rituals, from the mundane like hanging laundry, to the absurd like tap dancing and pretending to be bears.