February 22, 1974 Geography of a Horse Dreamer at Theatre Upstairs Royal Court, London directed by Sam Shepard.
His first directing work with British character actor Bob Hoskins (Mona Lisa, Roger Rabbit) Debut relates to the pressure for a winner in his new environment. Deals with the artist visionary prevalent in Shepard's work in the late 60's and early 70's.
In terms of British music, David Bowie and glitter rock interested Shepard less than The Who and the Stones and he starts listening to traditional blues and jazz. Uses recordings by Sidney Bechet, Ornette Coleman and Clifton Chenier in his production of Horse Dreamer. Wrote a review for the Village Voice of two albums by avant garde jazzman Ornette Coleman and Little Brother Montgomery. Shepard writes, "These guys give us the feeling of America, then and now."
March 25, 1974 Little Ocean at Hampstead Theatre Club, London. Directed by Stephen Rae.
Shepards only play up to this time to feature women. This play has not been published. British reviewers describe the play as "a meditation on motherhood and pregnancy," and "a 45 minute fantasia on childbirth."
August 1974 Shepard and family returns to California on board the France.
Shepard's mother lives outside of LA, his father in Santa Fe. Shepard, his wife O-Lan and their son Jesse Mojo move in with Olan's mother Scarlett and her husband, Johnny Dark in Mill Valley in Marin Co. Shewey maintains that thoughts of home and returning to US make Shepard start thinking about family. He dreams of owning a ranch and the family moves into a prefab housing development in Corte Madre while house hunting. Shepard eventually purchases a 20 acre horse ranch in Mill Valley which he calls the Flying Y. He left CA in 1964 to check out the music scene in NYC. Now, after a decade of theatre experiences, he says to the press that he moved back to California because he liked the weather. Also, he felt that in New York and London, audiences went to the theatre with ready-made assumptions. In San Francisco, "there's the possibility of getting something going."
The family travels to Trip to Nova Scotia, Canada every summer after their return to US. Shepard's journals and notebooks from this time include several short sketches with characters similar to those in Buried Child, here called The Last American Gas Station, with characters like Hallie, Dodge, Eamon, Tate and Cody seen living in a Edward Hopper-like setting.
September 1974 Action produced at Royal Court directed by Nancy Meckler an American who directed Icarus' Mother and whose British husband ran the Hampstead Theatre Club...Shepard had already left for the US.
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