Saturday, February 10, 2007

A Goat?

I went to see a performance of Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? on Thursday. The performance was decent, nothing special. (I'll stop there, as I'm not sure I want to be a public reviewer of local productions since I'm also a practitioner.)

The script... How the h-e-l-l did this win a Tony? How? I know Mr. Albee has written some remarkable plays. But what is there besides some jokes about bestiality, a comment on the depravity of all human sexuality, some wordplay, and a resolution that isn't one?

The story opens with a happily married couple who are parents to a gay, teenage son. The father is absent-minded but nice enough. A friend comes over to interview him about a recent professional award. He confesses to this friend that he's having an affair with a goat... and he's in love.

The wife finds out, they fight, the son gets involved, there's some argument about homosexuality and human sexuality and what turns people on. I won't say how it ends, but it doesn't say much about the future of the characters.

If you have seen or read The Goat and you think I'm missing something, please post a comment to let me know what I missed.

No comments: