Pulitzer Prize-winner Sam Shepard was our Playwright-in-Residence during the 1996-97 Season, when we first produced Curse of the Starving Class. March 19-21, 26-28 Performances begin at 7:30; Saturday Matinees begin at 1:00 pm Lower Denton Theatre. [3] The play was commissioned by Joseph Papp. Curse of the Starving Class (1994) Sam Shepard's coming of age drama about a dirt-poor 1950's-era farm family. It tells the story of aging rock singer Hoss, doing battle with rival Crow. Curse of the Starving Class (1994) - Rotten Tomatoes This drama critically examines the destructive effects of the American dream on a poor farming family. [4] Curse of the Starving Class premiered Off-Broadway at the New York Shakespeare Festival, on March 2, 1978, presented by Joseph Papp They live in southern California, a place that was initially a true frontier and then in the depression became the land of dreams for poor migrants from the Dust Bowl and the South . Curse of the Starving Class Summary Wesley is putting pieces of broken door into a wheelbarrow when his mother, Ellla, enters, and the two begin to discuss the events of the previous evening which led to his father, Weston, breaking down the door in the first place. Get an answer for 'When and where does The Curse of the Starving Class take place? Shepard joined us for several Legacy productions since then, including A Particle of Dread (Oedipus Variations), Heartless, and The Late Henry Moss. The Tooth of Crime is a musical play written by Sam Shepard which made its premiere in London's Open Space Theatre on July 17, 1972. Performance History: The first production was staged at the Royal Court in London on April 21, ... white collar, blue collar or whatever - is one great starving class. He passed away in 2017, and we honor his legacy with this revival. Curse of the Starving Class Production Information, Other Productions of Curse of the Starving Class. Other articles where Curse of the Starving Class is discussed: Sam Shepard: Curse of the Starving Class (produced 1977; film 1994), the Pulitzer Prize-winning Buried Child (produced 1978), and True West (produced 1980) are linked thematically in their examination of troubled and tempestuous blood relationships in a fragmented society. Dad's a foul talking drunk, and Mom is desperately trying to save what's left of their family life. Productions 2019-2020. The play was initially produced in London at the Royal Court Theatre on April 21, 1977, directed by Nancy Meckler. Curse of the Starving Class is not only the first play of what is known as the “family trilogy” (the two other plays in that trilogy are Buried Child and True West), it also stands as the initial play of the second phase of Shepard’s career. Production history. In Curse of the Starving Class, the unnamed family on which the play centers are all affected by their unidentifiable sensation that a frontier has disappeared. CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS is directed by long-time Catastrophic company member Jeff Miller, who previously directed BURIED CHILD in a 2016 Catastrophic production that the Houston Chronicle called “quietly devastating” with “the pull of a whisper and the force of a cannon.”