Curse of the Starving Class
By Sam Shepard
June 2022
URBN Center Annex Black Box Theater at Drexel University
An explosive production seasons in the making.
The Tates are on the brink of emotional and financial ruin as each family member plans a desperate escape. Ella plots with a smarmy real estate agent, while husband Weston holes up at the local bar, and son Wesley tries desperately to hold the house together. Meanwhile, 13-year-old Emma dreams of a life of crime, and the family’s lamb takes the brunt of it all. Winner of the 1978 Obie Award for Best New American Play, Curse of the Starving Class took the American Dream and exploded it into gruesome fragments.
Show sponsored by Dr. Joel & Mrs. Bobbie Porter
Creative Team
Lane Savadove … Director
Dirk Durossette … Set Designer
Andrew J. Cowles … Lighting Designer
Kiran Grace … Costume Designer
Ava Weinzweig … Sound Designer
Amanda Hatch via Avista Custom Theatricals … Props Design
Flannel & Hammer … Technical Director & Master Carpenter
Lyndsey Connolly … Stage Manager
Little Hooves Romneys … Lamb Providers
Kirk Slingluff … Lamb Wrangler
Triston Haq … Assistant Stage Manager
Dane Eissler … Production Manager
Kevin Monko … Production Photos
Cast
Rob Kahn … Weston
Melanie Julian … Ella
Dawn McCall … Wesley
Kylie Westerbeck … Emma
Damien J. Wallace … Taylor
Scott Rodrigue … Ellis
Taye Hopkins … Emerson/Malcolm
Jackson Brown … Slater
Special Thanks to the Original Cast
Stephen Rishard, Melanie Julian, Tyler Elliott, Kylie Westerbeck, Ross Beschler, Scott Rodrigue, Katherine Perry, Cameron Del Grosso, Brandon Castillo, & Mackenzie Trush
About Sam Shepard
Sam Shepard (November 5, 1943 - July 27, 2017) was an award-winning playwright, Oscar-nominated actor to rockstar drummer and songwriter, he’s widely considered to be one of American’s most iconic and prolific theater artists.
Growing up under the roof of an alcoholic ex-military father, Shepard was a trouble-maker with creative pursuits. At the age of 20, he left for NYC to pursue an independent life in the arts. Heavily inspired by jazz music, Shepard’s writing quickly cemented his place in the theatre community, with over twenty plays produced in just eight years in theatres such as La Mama and Theatre Genesis. He would go on to collaborate with lover and rockstar Patti Smith, write music with Bob Dylan, and work in London, before returning home to America. In the coming years, he would go on to write his most important works.
In 2017, Sam Shepard died due to complications with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).