Killer’s Head

play by Shepard

Written by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

July 17, 2026

Quick Summary

Killer's Head is a play by Sam Shepard, produced in 1975. It features a rambling monologue, a technique characteristic of Shepard's work. The play blends horror and banality through the final thoughts of a murderer awaiting electrocution.1

Sam Shepard (1943–2017) was an American playwright and actor known for incorporating elements of the American West, pop culture, and science fiction into his works. He received multiple Obie Awards for his early plays and later gained recognition for his family tragedies, such as Curse of the Starving Class and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Buried Child. Shepard also had a notable acting career in film.1

Summary created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

2 Britannica Sources

Ask Britannica AI about this topic

Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.

Sam Shepard
In Killer’s Head (produced 1975), for example, the rambling monologue, a Shepard stock-in-trade, blends horror and banality in a murderer’s last thoughts before electrocution; Angel City (produced 1976) depicts the destructive machinery of the Hollywood entertainment industry; and Suicide in B-flat (produced 1976) exploits the potentials…
Read More
In Killer’s Head (produced 1975), for example, the rambling monologue, a Shepard stock-in-trade, blends horror and banality in a murderer’s last thoughts before electrocution; Angel City (produced 1976) depicts the destructive machinery of the Hollywood entertainment industry; and Suicide in B-flat (produced 1976) exploits the potentials…
Read More