Raymond Malewitz
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780804791960
- eISBN:
- 9780804792998
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804791960.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, American, 20th Century Literature
This chapter shows how Utopian versions of American rugged consumerism emerged from the material limitations of the nation's counterculture theaters during the late sixties. In keeping with ...
More
This chapter shows how Utopian versions of American rugged consumerism emerged from the material limitations of the nation's counterculture theaters during the late sixties. In keeping with left-libertarian DIY projects such as the Whole Earth Catalog and Adhocism, off-off-Broadway playwrights such as Sam Shepard drew inspiration from their financial limitations and wrote plays to accommodate the discarded objects that they re-appropriated on walks around New York City. Drawing upon a number of autobiographical accounts from off-off-Broadway playwrights collected in the New York Public Library's theater archives as well as important historical studies by Stephen Bottoms and David Crespy, the chapter show how both within and beyond the magic circle of the stage, off-off-Broadway's rugged consumers transformed commodities and their waste products (including the commercial spaces of American theater) into renewed sites of creative production.Less
This chapter shows how Utopian versions of American rugged consumerism emerged from the material limitations of the nation's counterculture theaters during the late sixties. In keeping with left-libertarian DIY projects such as the Whole Earth Catalog and Adhocism, off-off-Broadway playwrights such as Sam Shepard drew inspiration from their financial limitations and wrote plays to accommodate the discarded objects that they re-appropriated on walks around New York City. Drawing upon a number of autobiographical accounts from off-off-Broadway playwrights collected in the New York Public Library's theater archives as well as important historical studies by Stephen Bottoms and David Crespy, the chapter show how both within and beyond the magic circle of the stage, off-off-Broadway's rugged consumers transformed commodities and their waste products (including the commercial spaces of American theater) into renewed sites of creative production.
Joseph B. Atkins
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- September 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780813180106
- eISBN:
- 9780813180113
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813180106.003.0010
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
This chapter looks at Harry Dean Stanton's greatest film from a wide range of aspects -- Ry Cooder's music, Robbie Müller's cinematography, Sam Shepard's writing, Wim Wenders' direction, and, of ...
More
This chapter looks at Harry Dean Stanton's greatest film from a wide range of aspects -- Ry Cooder's music, Robbie Müller's cinematography, Sam Shepard's writing, Wim Wenders' direction, and, of course, the acting, not only Harry Dean's but also that of Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément, and Hunter Carson. It traces the genesis of the story that grew out of Shepard's imagination and Wenders' fascination with American iconography. Important, too, was Shepard's encounter with Harry Dean in a Santa Fe bar and subsequent casting of him for the role of Travis Henderson, the mysterious desert wanderer searching for some kind of redemption after abandoning his wife and son. Each of the key contributors to the film -- whether in music, scenery, or the story -- had his or her own journey that led to this very American film that is yet so imbued with European sensibilities. Shot in chronological order and thus with cast and crew shuffling back and forth between Texas and Los Angeles, Paris, Texas was a test for all involved, but it became the film that made Harry Dean most proud and the one that marked the peak of his career.Less
This chapter looks at Harry Dean Stanton's greatest film from a wide range of aspects -- Ry Cooder's music, Robbie Müller's cinematography, Sam Shepard's writing, Wim Wenders' direction, and, of course, the acting, not only Harry Dean's but also that of Nastassja Kinski, Dean Stockwell, Aurore Clément, and Hunter Carson. It traces the genesis of the story that grew out of Shepard's imagination and Wenders' fascination with American iconography. Important, too, was Shepard's encounter with Harry Dean in a Santa Fe bar and subsequent casting of him for the role of Travis Henderson, the mysterious desert wanderer searching for some kind of redemption after abandoning his wife and son. Each of the key contributors to the film -- whether in music, scenery, or the story -- had his or her own journey that led to this very American film that is yet so imbued with European sensibilities. Shot in chronological order and thus with cast and crew shuffling back and forth between Texas and Los Angeles, Paris, Texas was a test for all involved, but it became the film that made Harry Dean most proud and the one that marked the peak of his career.
