• Why do you think no one recognizes Vince when he arrives? How does this lack of recognition affect Vince? How does it serve to drive the plot forward?
• How does the play's rural setting affect your perception of the characters and plot? Can you see Buried Child taking place in a large, urban area? Why or why not? How would it be different?
• Many writers and scholars have commented on Shepard's "cowboy sensuality" as something he promotes as part of his public image. What do you think they mean by "cowboy sensuality"? Do you see that concept reflected in the play? If so, how?
• Why do you think the script calls for the set to show only a staircase, but not to show Halie when she is in her upstairs room? What do you think Halie's room looks and feels like?
• How does the play give the audience information about events that took place before the play begins? Does it provide all of the details at once, or does it use other ways to show what has taken place in the life of this family? What do you think has happened to each of the characters before the play begins?
• Critics and scholars often comment on the long monologues in Buried Child and other Shepard plays. Consider the long speeches in this play: What is communicated through these monologues? How do the speeches fit into the "tone" of the rest of the play? What character information is given during these monologues? How do they affect the meaning of the play as a whole?
• What is the significance of the corn, carrots, and flowers that Tilden and Halie bring into the house? Why do you think the carrots and the corn are thriving in a field that is supposed to be barren?
• What kind of symbolism does the play use in relation to death and mortality? How does humor affect the way the play deals with these subjects? What is the source of the play's humor, and how does it affect your experience of the play's plot?
• The ending of the play is not absolutely certain. What do you think will happen to each of these characters? Will Shelly and Vince ever meet again? Do you think Vince stands a chance of escaping the bizarre troubles that have plagued generations of men in his family? Which character do you think changes or learns the most over the course of the play?
• Buried Child was first produced in San Francisco in 1978. Shepard made revisions to the text for its 1995 revival in Chicago, but the major events of the plot remain the same. Taking this into consideration, do you feel that the experience of viewing this play is any different at the beginning of the 21st century, compared to two decades ago? What kind of impact do you think current events, both now and in the late 1970s, make on audience perception of the play?

Sam Shepard: A Lie of the Mind