“Buried Child” at Tin Roof Theatre tells a tale of violence
From eerie and creepy to violent and intense and then finally to loving and compassionate, several moods emerge from the story of “Buried Child,” which will be performed this month by Fargo’s Tin Roof Theatre Company.
The play, originally written by playwright Sam Shepard, was first brought about in 1978 when it premiered in New York City and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
The story follows a broken farm family living lives of violence and depression.
The cast of characters include a grandfather battling alcoholism, a grandmother who endures drinking bouts with the church minister, and their two grown sons, Tilden, a football-player-turned-idiot, and Bradley, who is physically handicapped due to an encounter with a chainsaw.
Times are very grim for the family until a young man named Vince comes along and claims to be their long, lost grandson.
Not long after the strangers meet, a dark secret, buried for years, is brought out: an unwanted infant had been buried years earlier in an undisclosed spot, leading the baby’s remains to later be discovered.
The act purges the entire family of everything and brings about a new beginning for all of them.
Buried Child will be performed at the Main Avenue Theatre in downtown Fargo Jan. 11-23, 18-20 and 25-27 at 7:30 p.m.
Audio description is available January 20.
Tickets are $10 for students and available through the Main Avenue Theatre box office or by calling 701-306-5843.