Unlike some plays, Edward Albee's works are a pleasure to read as well as watch. Perhaps this is due to the extensive narrative instruction he includes in his scripts, from costuming to props, which lends the scripts a novelistic quality. This translates beautifully to the stage, where clear instructions on how a line should be read give actors little room for improvisation. His works are comprehensive masterpieces, and "The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?" is no exception.
The Lyric Stage Company pushes the boundaries of avant-garde theatre with their production of "The Goat." The work is a collaborative success due to the dynamic performances of the cast and the skillful directing of Spiro Veloudos. The play is uncomfortable and disturbing, but also witty and even funny. It is ghastly to behold, but mesmerizing and impossible to walk away from unmoved.
The play, written in one long act, details a crisis in the marriage of Stevie and Martin. Their life is an idealistic blur until Martin reveals that there's someone (or rather, something) else. Martin (played by Stephen Schnetzer) falls head over heels in love with a goat named Sylvia and he can't understand why his wife (played by Paula Plum) can't sympathize with his situation.
"The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?" questions what is taboo in today's "anything goes" society. Albee asks, "If love can transcend race, religion and culture, why not species, as well?" He manages to take an absurd situation and make it meaningful and provocative. The show is tragically funny, and such is Albee's talent that you can't help but wonder if Martin has a point.
Albee, the three-time Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist, is one of the most important living playwrights. In the tradition of Beckett and Ionesco, Albee's work presents the human condition in a universe where God is dead and life has no meaning. His work confronts the reality of a meaningless universe, and pushes one to abandon delusions of a higher order. "The Goat" follows in this tradition as Stevie and Martin struggle with the implications of meaninglessness while attempting to maintain fantasies of normality.
Schnetzer and Plum have a dynamic chemistry, and both give intriguing performances. There is a heightened tension that lasts for nearly the entire production, putting both actors to the test. Plum is sharp, and acts with a raw, moving sense of emotion. Schnetzer is milder, and his occasional angry outbursts seem somewhat out of character. Nevertheless, he plays a difficult part with sensitivity and sincerity.
Often, the dramatic intercourse of the actors feels like a soap opera, but this is excusable. It is probably unavoidable due to the nature of the topic, and it somewhat lessened the severity of the play.
One of the show's focuses is the value of semantics and the correctness of language. This is at odds with the loose definitions of love, sex, family and wrongness that circulate throughout the play.
The play is rich with a tumultuous combination of profanity and literary references alike. This use of language makes the characters decisively human but also a little removed from reality.
The Lyric Theatre is an intimate venue, both well-staffed and professional. The company is willing to take risks in their repertoire, and "The Goat" is remarkably well-produced.
There is a simplicity to the staging and the props that places the dramatic tension in high relief.
What drives our revulsion at Martin's infatuation with Sylvia? Albee forces one to examine his or her own boundaries as Martin and Stevie struggle with theirs. Though their love seems unshakable, what would it mean for Stevie to forgive or even accept Martin's behavior?
Contemplating these questions invariably leads one to question his or her own values. Though one may become unsettled at the possible answers to these questions, the absurdity of the play interrupts, and as Martin says, "So f--king what?"
