The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?

The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?
Book cover (Methuen)
Written by	Edward Albee
Characters	Martin Stevie Billy Ross
Date premiered	10 March 2002
Place premiered	John Golden Theatre New York City, New York
Original language	English
Subject
Genre	Drama
Setting	Drama
IBDB profile

The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?, a play written by Edward Albee, premiered on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre on 10 March 2002 where it ran for 309 performances. A production opened in London in 2004.

Albee's sub-title for the play is "(Notes toward a definition of tragedy)". The word tragedy comes from the Greek for "goat song".

Plot

The tale of a married, middle-aged architect whose life crumbles when he falls in love with a goat, the play focuses on the limits of an ostensibly liberal society. Through showing this family in crisis, Albee challenges audience members to question their own morality in the face of other social taboos including infidelity, homosexuality, pedophilia, incest and, of course, bestiality.

The play also features many language games and grammatical arguments in the middle of catastrophes and existential disputes between the characters.

The name of the play refers to the song "Who is Sylvia" from Shakespeare's play The Two Gentlemen of Verona. Proteus sings this song, hoping to woo Silvia. Franz Schubert's setting of the song contributed to its popularity outside Shakespeare's play. It is also referred to an earlier work of Albee's, "Finding the Sun" (1982).

Albee's play drew film stars Bill Pullman and Mercedes Ruehl to Broadway. Ruehl was later replaced by Sally Field, and Pullman was replaced by Bill Irwin.

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 2002 Drama Desk Award for Best New Play
• 2002 Tony Award for Best Play

Nominations

• 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
• 2006 Helpmann Award for Best Play

References

Albee, Edward (2000). The goat, or Who is Sylvia? (Typescript Archival Material ed.). OCLC 122430759. 

External links

• The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? at the Internet Broadway Database
• Chinese version of this drama from Hong Kong drama group "Wedraman"