Has there ever been a more capable playwright to handle bestiality than Edward Albee? ‘The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?’ is probably Albee’s last great play after a decade-spanning career that garnered handfuls of Tonys and Pulitzers. ‘The Goat’ was shortlisted for the 2003 Pulitzer and the original Broadway production even included Sally Field. While the plot may be discouraging to some theater-goers, only Albee could heighten such an absurd subject matter to dark comedy and intellectual discourse.
Interrobang Theatre Project kicks off their ninth season; “identity/crisis” with ‘The Goat’. Under James Yost’s direction, this intimate production is sleek and faithful to Albee’s script. It’s notably challenging to bring anything truly original to an Albee play as he was known to be very strict regarding artistic interpretation. With a solid play like ‘The Goat’ there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, only to stage the best production of it you can.
Yost has assembled a great cast to tell this prickly tale. Tom Jansson plays Martin, the main character around which the play takes place. Martin and his wife Stevie (Elana Elyce) enjoy an idyllic upper middle-class lifestyle, a happy marriage and a lovely home. They’re open-minded about their son’s sexual orientation and even joke about how perfect their life together is. It’s when Martin confesses he’s having an affair that the play takes a turn. Martin jokes that his mistress is a goat, but we quickly learn it’s no joke at all.
This is not easy dialogue to make convincing. Albee even somewhat references that through Stevie. Knowing is one thing, believing is another. Elana Elyce delivers a powerhouse performance as the wife of a man copulating with a farm animal. Her final monolog grounds the absurdity of the plot in a devastating reality. Though, it’s the character of Martin that the play’s authenticity relies. Tom Jansson never loses the audience. His love for the goat he’s named Sylvia is abhorrent, but like Nabokov’s Humbert Humbert, we’re inclined to root for him in some way. Jansson’s performance is one an audience can trust and laugh with, even when they shouldn’t.
The synopsis of ‘The Goat’ may seem like some sort of circus attraction to be seen only for shock value. Albee’s genius is that he’s able to touch on several kinks and sexual proclivities and put up for debate why one is acceptable and the other is not. What is the difference between love and lust? Do we have a choice about what turns us on, or is it nature rather than nurture? Even in a post legal gay marriage American, some religious fundamentalists still liken homosexuality to bestiality or pedophilia. Perhaps there are some taboos that are just too far for acceptance. Albee’s ambition was to get us to examine ourselves and to start a dialogue. This play will surely do that.
Through October 6th at Ridendell Theatre. 5779 N Ridge Ave. 312-219-4140
