The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia?
by Edward Albee

Name: The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia?
Brand: Edward Albee
SKU: 9780822219767
Rating: 3.92 (7026 reviews)

BroadwayWest End

The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia? Book Cover — The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia? Cover

Highlights

Small Cast

Female

Male

105 minsPresent DayInterior SetContemporary Costumes/Street ClothesAmerican

Awards & Recognition

Drama Desk AwardEvening Standard AwardOlivier AwardPulitzer PrizeTony Award

Winner! 2002 Tony Award for Best Play Winner! 2002 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play Finalist: 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama Nominee: Three 2005 Olivier Awards, including Best New Play Nominee: Two 2004 Evening Standard Theatre Awards, including Best Play

What readers are saying

Readers find Edward Albee's 'The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia?' to be a provocative exploration of love, societal norms, and morality, often elicits shock and intrigue due to its controversial subject matter. Many appreciate its blend of humor and tragedy, as well as its incisive dialogue and character development, though some note that it can be emotionally overwhelming and dark. Albee's unique storytelling style captivates audiences, leaving them with lingering thoughts long after reading.

Provocative exploration of loveExcellent character developmentIntriguing blend of humor and tragedyEmotionally overwhelming for some

Synopsis

Three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Edward Albee's most provocative, daring, and controversial play since Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Goat won four major awards for best new play of the year (Tony, New York Drama Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle).

In the play, Martin, a successful architect who has just turned fifty, leads an ostensibly ideal life with his loving wife and gay teenage son.

But when he confides to his best friend that he is also in love with a goat (named Sylvia), he sets in motion events that will destroy his family and leave his life in tatters.

The playwright himself describes it this way: Every civilization sets quite arbitrary limits to its tolerances.

The play is about a family that is deeply rocked by an unimaginable event and they solve that problem.

It is my hope that people will think afresh about whether or not all the values they hold are valid.

ThemesArchitects Architects--Drama Goats--Drama Married people Married people--Drama PS3551.L25 G63 2003

Press Reviews

"The Goat is about a profoundly unsettling subject, which for the record is not bestiality but the irrational, confounding, and convention-thwarting nature of love. Powerful [and] extraordinary…Mr. Albee still asks questions that no other major American dramatist dares to ask."
— The New York Times