The use of ritual elements as a directorial approach to The Tooth of Crime

Directing a play by Sam Shepard is an artistic challenge, as well as an often disorienting experience. American actor/directors are trained primarily in the Stanislavski method of actor training which demands a logical, motivational approach to playing text. Directorial analyses of scripts are heavily influenced by this school of thought, searching always for the "cause-effect" relationships within the structure of modern drama. Shepard plays, however, defy these principles; situations presented are nonrealistic, disjointed scenarios, populated with mythical characters who behave quite illogically at times and sometimes speak in dialogue which distorts American English into an alien language. In their conglomeration of styles, Shepard pieces also present a dilemma for artists trained in perceiving and rendering unity of thought and character. Within a single Shepard play, the action might be reflected through the psychological nuances of realism, to the presentational conventions of Bertold Brecht's work.