Operation Sidewinder · Lincoln Center program

Byrd’s illustration was reimagined for the program of the 1970 Sam Shepard play Operation Sidewinder, at the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center.

For the Lincoln Center program of Sam Shepard’s Operation Sidewinder, Byrd reused the Indigenous American figure from his 1968 Traffic / Iron Butterfly / Blue Cheer Fillmore poster, this time putting a snake in the figure’s hands to match the plot. He liked to say artists should “steal from themselves.”

He remembered little of the play itself beyond a small band playing just offstage — the program illustration outlived the production.

Sources: Poster Child · Fillmore East & Bill Graham.