Shepard Country

2019-2020

In 2017, theater lost one of its truly iconic American playwrights in Sam Shepard. He explored the mythological nightmare of the American dream and the nuclear family, exposing the buried nerves that allowed his work to explode into surreal fantasies and magnificent jazz-like areas. Instrumental in re-defining American playwrighting in the late 20th century, EgoPo felt it necessary to honor and celebrate his influential works with a season dedicated to him and his prolific career. ​

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Buried Child

Fool for Love

Curse of the Starving Class

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting lockdown, this production was POSTPONED until the 2021-2022 Awakenings & Transformations season.

And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens

At the start of the season, EgoPo presented Tennessee Williams’ chamber play And Tell Sad Stories of the Deaths of Queens directed by Lane Savadove with an immersive production design by Dane Eissler.

This production was commissioned by the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival, and toured to the Provincetown the Philly Fringe.

Queens is being enthusiastically revived in the upcoming 2026-2027 Immersions season.

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Season Launch Party

EgoPo threw a down-home Southern bash to celebrate the launch of the Sam Shepard season.

EgoPo’s artists, audiences, and friends gathered at the famed Boot & Saddle bar and concert venue on Broad Street.

Audiences feasted on Southern cuisine (Redcrest fried chicken, bean chili, corn pudding, collards, mac ‘n’ cheese, and bourbon pecan pies), drinks (including spicy cowboy margaritas and bourbon lemonades), line dancing led by Hugocity Max of Giddy Up Philly, and performances by Kylie Westerbeck, Charlie Del Marcelle, and Philly’s hottest Southern Rock theater band, Jawbone Junction!