Theater Review: The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?

by Mark Lowry

There are several moments in Edward Albee’s 2002 Tony-winning play The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? — now having its area premiere by Kitchen Dog Theater — that remind us of his other plays and themes.

The first comes in the opening scene. We meet middle-aged married couple Martin (Bob Hess) and Stevie (Diane Box-Worman), preparing for a guest and discussing Martin’s upcoming 50th birthday. There’s a hint of possible mental games when he admits something shocking, and she laughs it off. “Uh-oh,” you think, ready to pitying the as-yet-unseen victims, knowing the fate of poor Nick and Honey in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the new parents in The Play About the Baby.

But then the guest arrives. It’s longtime friend Ross (Barry Nash), who is producing a segment on Martin, a successful Pritzker Prize-winning architect, for a cable show laughably called People Who Matter. When Martin confides his secret to Ross, it’s not so funny. Ross is so disturbed, in fact, that he betrays Martin by later outing his friend to Stevie. Yes, Martin is having an affair with the titular barnyard animal, which he met in the country and has named Sylvia.

Not only will the phrase “animal husbandry” ever be the same, but what transpires next proves that Stevie and Martin are not the typical Albee couple. Looks like they have actually been happy all these years, unlike George and Martha or the characters in Marriage Play.

Still, that doesn’t mean things won’t go horribly downhill, and fast. The ensuing fallout is one of the most simultaneously disturbing and riotously funny of any play in the Albee canon — or any other contemporary canon, for that matter.

Stevie and Martin have it out, and nothing around them — chiefly the furniture and accessories in their pristine New York City apartment — is safe. Considering the amount of destroyed items onstage, this show must be a nightmare for stage manager Ruth Stephenson and prop designers Jen Gilson-Gilliam and Judy Niven, not to mention scenic designer Clare Floyd DeVries, whose expansive and detailed set is among KDT’s finest.

Also caught in S & M’s crossfire is their 17-year-old son, played by Kevin Moore, who has recently announced he’s gay. This must have been met with the “good for you, now let’s psychoanalyze this” reaction typical of liberal-intellectual parents. And, in a smart bit of character-naming, the kid is Billy (now if he had a nanny, that would have been one goat reference too many).

Tim Johnson makes his Kitchen Dog directing return, and it’s a good fit. He keeps his actors on track with the rhythms and precision of Albee’s language, as previously evidenced in his production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at KDT. In The Goat, this is tricky because the characters’ wordplay seems to be more self-aware than is usual for Albee. It’s almost as if he’s poking fun at his own desire for selecting the most exact word possible.

Johnson also reclaims his status as an actor’s director, successfully leading Box-Worman down a path that might be treacherous for a lesser actress. The Goat may focus on Martin’s sick secret, but this is Stevie’s play. It’s some task to say the things that come out of her mouth, especially where bestiality is concerned, without losing it. She takes it seriously, and digs deep for a believably controlled rage that drives the play’s momentum. It’s compelling, and of Greek tragedy proportions (although to name the famous Greek play it resembles most might spoil the bombshell ending).

Hess makes us feel for a man who is obviously sick, and he is eventually successful — although part of that is from the playgoer’s fear that Stevie might very well murder him. His sin, from her standpoint at least, isn’t so much that he had sex with Sylvia as that he loved her — and believed she loved him back.

The one misstep in this production is the casting of Moore, an actor of undeniable talent. He’s probably pushing 30, but is nicely holding on to his youthful looks. But that doesn’t mean he can pull off 17. Billy is a teen who has grown up with urbane, literate parents, so for Moore to overplay the bratty, whiny side of such a character is a surprise that doesn’t quite work. Considering that KDT has good luck with young talent from its Southern Methodist University connection, it’s hard to believe there wasn’t a more age-appropriate choice.

The Goat is not as brilliant as some of Albee’s other plays, but that’s an empty criticism, considering the importance of those works. It stands on its own as a provocative play not merely interested in shock value. It asks questions about our relationships with family, friends and lovers. Who would’ve guessed the result would be laughter through horror?

The production runs through December 13 and tickets can be purchased online or by calling 214-953-1055. Pay-what-you-can for first 25 people on Wed & Thurs shows.

Mark Lowry is a Dallas-based freelance writer who covered the North Texas theater scene at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for 10 years. Follow his Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/TweetTheater.

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