In 2012, Stanford Summer Theater celebrates its 14th season with the Sam Shepard Festival, exploring the work of this great American playwright, actor, and screenwriter. The Shepard Festival features a major production of Curse of the Starving Class, July 19-August 12, 2012, in Pigott Theater on the Stanford campus. Directed by Rush Rehm, Curse of the Starving Class stars SST veterans Marty Pistone (Restoration Comedy) as Weston, Courtney Walsh (Old Times, Oedipus, Electra, Faith Healer) as Ella, Max-Sosna Spear (Wesley), Jessica Waldman (Emma), Ben Fisher (Taylor), Keith Marshall (Ellis), Michael Vang (Malcom), Ben Knoll (Slater), and Philip Greenspoon (Emerson).

The Shepard Festival also includes a free film series focusing on Shepard’s cinematic work (as an Oscar-nominated actor and prize-winning screenwriter), a community symposium exploring “Sam Shepard and the Eclectic American West” (Saturday July 28, 9:30 am to 5 pm, Pigott Theater), and a Continuing Studies course “Shepard and American Realism.”