Dysfunctional family at center of Winding Road's solid 'Buried Child'

Here’s the magic of playwright Sam Shepard:

No matter how dysfunctional the relationships in his plays, how dark and depressing, there’s always something there that feels familiar — even if it isn’t.

Winding Road Theater Ensemble’s “Buried Child,” which won Shepard a Pulitzer in 1979 and catapulted him into superstardom, underscores that sense.

The scene is a dilapidated farmhouse in a desolate part of Illinois. The family members who live there make one another miserable.

There’s the tight-but-lusty mother, Halie (Roseanne Couston), who spends much of the first act speaking to her ailing husband, Dodge (Chad Davies), from another room, nagging him, berating him and basically making him wish for the death that is surely not too far off.

Also living there is Tilden (Brian Taraz) who is mentally slow and clearly anguished. Another son, Bradley (Gabriel Nagy), pops in to cut Dodge’s hair (much to Dodge’s fury) and to make everyone uncomfortable.

This is a family that was once proud, the land once fruitful. But hard times have made them bitter, hateful and often drunk. Halie escapes by indulging in sins of the flesh with the local priest (Glen Coffman). Dodge and Tilden escape with alcohol, and Bradley, who lost a leg in a chain-saw accident relies on a sadistic streak for survival.

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When Tilden’s son, Vince (Cole Potwardowski) returns after a six-year absence, bringing his girlfriend Shelly (Brie Zepeda) along, he is disappointed to find no one knows who he is.

This is a bunch of self-absorbed folks without much compassion to speak of. But this family rings true; while the downfall is extreme, there is so much that reflects the human condition, from the insecurities, the yearning for connection, the anger and the fear.

And there’s a deep, albeit often hidden, humanity to the characters in this solid production directed by Eva Tessler.

Dodge is nasty and dying, but his flashes of humor and glimpses of longing for a life not so burdened with hardships are clear and welcomed in Davies’ hands.

And Couston’s Halie is deeply broken but too proud to allow anyone to see.

Even with some uneven acting, this production of “Buried Child” is a compelling one — Tessler has made this dysfunctional family hard to turn away from, and has made clear Shepard’s magic.