Sam Shepard Play Returns Minus Some of the Mystery

A few years ago, Sam Shepard rewrote enough of his 1979 opus “Buried Child” for it to be deemed a new play when it went to Broadway in 1996 and entered the Tony competition.

Now Flora Plumb has staged the new version at Theatre 40, in a production that lacks the compelling sense of mystery of previous productions.

Some of this was intentional on Shepard’s part. In an interview in American Theatre magazine, he said he wanted to get rid of “the gratuitously mysterious.” So it’s somewhat clearer, earlier in the play, just who is the father of the title character.

Yet part of the play’s appeal was the spooky feeling it created that there are terrible human phenomena that can’t be wholly pinned down. The generally pleased reviewers of the new version in Chicago and New York didn’t appear to think that this element had been sacrificed in the rewrite.

At Theatre 40, however, the play--about a very troubled Illinois farm family--just isn’t as gripping as it ought to be. Much of this is related to the physical production. The ceiling is low, so it’s difficult to create a convincingly long staircase from which the matriarch can make her entrances and exits. In the critical opening scene, the TV set doesn’t cast much of an eerie glow. No one is credited for music or sound design. The painted backdrop looks vague yet fake.

The cast is strong, however. William Frankfather is an amusingly sarcastic and snarling curmudgeon, and Mary Gregory is his harshly commanding wife, who hardly bothers to be hypocritical anymore. Rick Lenz, as the oldest son, is a card-carrying member of the walking wounded, while Darin Singleton is full of vinegar as his one-legged brother. Garrett Mathany effectively transforms from a young and baffled stranger into the full-fledged heir of this crazy clan, while Gwendolyn Sanford holds her own as his wary paramour.

*

* “Buried Child,” Theatre 40, Beverly Hills High School campus, 241 Moreno Drive. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Dec. 21. $15-$18. (818) 789-8499.

Running time: 2 hours, 20 minutes.