by Hugh Hunter

Although it won the Pulitzer for best play in 1978, “Buried Child” by Sam Shepard is rarely performed. That did not deter Old Academy Players in East Falls from taking a shot at a vision of family dissolution that puts the ideals of “The American Dream” in its crosshairs. 

Twenty-two-year old Vincent (Lee Stover) revisits the family farm in Illinois that he left six years ago. With girlfriend Shelly (fetching Kelsey Hebert) in tow, he finds his dearest relatives debauched beyond recognition. And they do not recognize him. 

Or do they? Are they just trying to stop Vincent from discovering family secrets? I read “Buried” long ago and thought it was showily despairing. But I never saw it on stage, and I was impressed by the weird vibrancy of the Old Academy production. 

Designer T. Mark Cole’s atmospheric set adds to the spookiness of the evening. The rear porch walls and side entranceway are see-through gauze, creating a surrealistic split screen that juxtaposes the expectations of Vincent and Kelly from what awaits them.  

With the help of Shepard’s vernacular speech, Director Nancy Ridgeway’s outstanding cast make the characters startling. Vincent is so distressed by their freakish transformation he jumps at the chance to buy his grandfather whiskey, thus leaving Shelly alone with some frightening folks. 

The family is nightmarish and mesmerizing. Veteran actor Tim Andersson is impressive in his OA debut as Dodge, the family patriarch. Weighed down by old age and painful memories, he slums on the sofa with only TV and whiskey for company. 

Andersson has great comic timing, and Dodge’s withering indifference ought to be hurtful. But wife Halie (Lorraine Barrett) is too self-preoccupied to care, a ludicrous yet believable woman who is both prudish and sexually profligate with Father Dewis (Charles Hoffmann).

Rob Rosiello shines as their son, Tilden. A former high school football star, Tilden now wanders farm fields aimlessly, his halting gait and haunted eyes suggesting an unbearable trauma. That makes the other son, Bradley (Eric Rupp), the most able-bodied man. Despite a wooden leg, he uses his new power to bully and settle grudges.              

What is wrong with these people? On the back porch Shelly gushed over the “Norman Rockwell” landscape. Indoors, she finds an ugly family transformed by a past they will not acknowledge; as the only sane person on stage, she pries loose their secrets and then wants nothing to do with them. But Vincent is pulled into their orbit. 

Like it or not, “Buried” holds your attention — absurdist, horrific and at times very funny. What it means is less clear. For sure, Shepard is taking a potshot at “The American Dream” — the family farm, self-reliance, love and fidelity, religion. At the same time it looms as a grotesque tribute to the enduring pull of family ties. Old Academy is located at 3540 Indian Queen Lane. “Buried Child” will run through March 15. Tickets at 215-843-1109 or oldacademyplayers.org