Editing Sam Shepard (section)

===Directing===
At the beginning of his career, Shepard did not direct his own plays. His early plays had a number of different directors, but were most frequently directed by Ralph Cook, the founder of [[Theatre Genesis]]. Later, while living at the Flying Y Ranch, Shepard formed a successful playwright-director relationship with [[Robert Woodruff (director)|Robert Woodruff]], who directed the premiere of ''[[Buried Child]]'' (1982). During the 1970s, Shepard decided that his vision for his plays required him to direct them himself. He directed many of his own plays from that point onward. With only a few exceptions, he did not direct plays by other playwrights. He also directed two films but reportedly did not see film directing as a major interest.