Scope and arrangement
The collection dates from 1970 to 1995 and holds scholarly articles, reviews, scripts, programs, recorded interviews, notes, dissertation drafts, and correspondence relating to the playwriting career of Sam Shepard. Material in this collection was gathered by Benet for her dissertation, The German Reception of Sam Shepard (1987). The collection reflects Benet's examination of language, translation, the German theater audience, and the function of theater programs, or Programmheft, that accompany Shepard's plays.
Research material in this collection is primarily comprised of newspaper and magazine articles. Benet's notes are sometimes interspersed with the articles, many of which are annotated. The majority of the files relate to audience's and critics' receptions of Sam Shepard's plays in the United States and Germany. Other topics represented through articles and clippings include individual actors and directors; theater scholars; publishers; American and German theaters; American and German avant-garde; American Expressionism; the history of theater in Germany; and Sam Shepard's work as a whole within the larger context of American drama. Material relating to the 1983 German production Bruder Eichmann (Brother Eichmann) consists of one program and photocopies of legal and court documents from Eichmann's trial. Shepard plays reviewed and discussed in the articles include Buried Child, Angel City, Chicago, Cowboy Mouth, True West, Fool for Love, and Curse of the Starving Class. Several of the articles are in German.
In addition to material collected by Benet for her research, documents relating more specifically to Benet's writing of her dissertation are present. Material consists of dissertation chapter drafts, correspondence, research notes, bibliographies, her dissertation prospectus, and two copies of her final dissertation. Correspondence consists of thank-you letters to researchers and dissertation advisors, as well as research requests.
This collection holds scripts of Shepard's plays, many of which are photocopies of compilations, such as The Unseen Hand and Other Plays (1972), Angel City and Other Plays (with introduction by Jack Gelber, 1976), and Mad Dog Blues and Other Plays (1972). German scripts were primarily published by S. Fischer Verlag and include Unternehmen Klapperschlange (Operation Sidewinder), Goldener Westen (True West), Melodrama Drama Drama, Cowboy Mouth, Wüste Liebe (Savage Love), Stimmen (Tongues), and Ikarus (Icarus's Mother), among others.
Programs and magazines are also present in this collection. Productions range from Off-Off Broadway to Broadway plays primarily produced in the 1980s and 1990s in the United States and Germany. Some programs are annotated with Benet's ideas, and clippings and notes are sometimes interleaved with the programs. Also included are issues of Performing Arts magazine dating from 1992 to 1995.
The collection holds five floppy disks containing drafts of Benet's dissertation. Recorded interviews with theater critics, directors, playwrights, and scholars relating to Shepard's work are present. Interviewees include Martin Esslin, Robert Woodruff, Peter Jacobi, and Peter Kleinschmidt. Inquiries regarding audio material in the collection may be directed to the Billy Rose Theatre Division (theatre@nypl.org). Audio material will be subject to preservation evaluation and migration prior to access.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into four groups: Research Material; Dissertation; Scripts; and Programs and Articles. Programs and Articles are arranged chronologically; all other groups are arranged alphabetically by folder title or production.