A review by cantordustbunnies
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? by Edward Albee

4.0

This play is about the weird, shameful, aberrant, creepy desires people have and society's reactions to them. I think everyone at some point in their life has had a dream or a thought at least once that they are disturbed, repulsed, or confused by and are very quick to pretend never happened. Some people, for one reason or another, actually act on these impulses. It's very easy to judge or to laugh at the characters in this play but when you honestly look at your own life you're probably more like them than you would like to admit. These characters just happen to be exceptionally open about it. The characters know on a societal level that their impulses are wrong, but feel inside that they are totally natural. What we think is inherently wrong or perverse is more subject to the culture in which we live than we would probably like to admit. This play definitely has a postmodernist tone. Thankfully, this play does not go as far to justify or condone damaging sexual behaviors. It merely poses the question and opens some uncomfortable, taboo doors and perhaps prods us to be more adult about the whole thing. That being said I thought the humour in the play was a little too silly and served to dampen the impact. I also disliked the implication that homosexuality is perverse or inherently fetishistic, but perhaps this was an intentional point designed to drive home the idea that societal standards can be arbitrary. Ultimately it is intensely thought provoking, funny, and uncomfortable.