Edward Albee is probably most famous for his play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (you’ve likely heard of, if not seen, the movie with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor), though he has quite a repertoire of plays to his name, many of which are award winners, including this one, the recipient of the 2002 Tony Award for Best Play.
I don’t read many plays as a rule, but there are some playwrights that beg to be read, like Norm Foster, or Neil Simon, and being familiar with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to read another play by Albee. I’m glad I did.
I would love to see this play performed. Some plays simply jump off the page while you’re reading them, and you can picture the actors in your head, moving around stage, delivering your lines. This is one of them. Or it may simply have helped that I read the lines out loud, quasi-acting them out in my little armchair.
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? Is a very thought-provoking play. Martin, a middle-age architect reveals to his best friend, who in turn writes a letter to Martin’s wife, that Martin has fallen in love and is having an affair with Sylvia. Not too shocking until it is discovered that Sylvia is a goat. Filled with tragic humour, the play questions society’s mores and morals as well as social taboos surrounding questions of sexuality. Martin, who struggles with his son’s homosexuality, has committed an even greater social taboo by pursuing a sexual relationship with an animal, yet he attends a support group for people suffering the same affliction, and who seek acceptance for their choice of love-partner. His wife Stevie struggles to understand her husband and deal with the breakdown of their seemingly perfect marriage.
Interspersed throughout is some rather inspired dialogue dealing with grammatical arguments (Martin should have been an English professor) that lend much needed comic relief at times.
A uniquely interesting play, I’m intrigued to learn what other topics Albee tackles in his other works.
Till next time, happy reading!
L 
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