‘The Goat’ explores relationships, emotions

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A family is torn apart in Edward Albee's "The Goat," on stage beginning Jan. 27 in Valparaiso, Ind. Pictured are Zachary Gipson (left), Jim Henry and Lisa Formosa-Parmigiano. | Photo Provided

Updated: February 28, 2012 8:07AM

Few American playwrights have had the longevity and influence of Edward Albee.

His plays, including “Zoo Story” and “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, are known for their dialogue and exploration of the darker side of society and relationships.

The Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso is tackling one of Albee’s more recent plays, “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” beginning this weekend.

“This is a show for someone who is willing to look in the mirror and accept that which they’d rather reject about society, about the human condition and ultimately, about themselves,” said Justin Treasure, who is co-directing the play with Andy Urschel.

The plot r evolves around a married architect who is confronting the disintegration of his life when he falls in love with a goat. Not exactly a common premise.

“This is one of the most challenging roles that I have ever had to work on,” said Jim Henry, one of the actors in this production. “Martin is basically a regular guy who finds himself in a very volatile family crisis that he has brought on himself.”

Albee, who won his first Tony Award in 1963 for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, won another in 2002 for “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?”

The subject matter and dramatic arc of this play take our social mores and attitudes to question by pushing the debate to an extreme.

“Albee has created a sort of absurdist playground,” Treasure said. “A place where most fear to tread and, as a result, actors and directors alike were forces to work to relate to experiences which are, at first glance, outliers in the everyday human experience.”

Henry is also an accomplished and award-winning playwright and can appreciate the skill of Albee in crafting a play that can push the audience to examine its collective morals while entertaining at the same time.

“It takes a master wordsmith like Albee to pull that off and keep us riveted throughout such an emotionally charged journey,” he said.

Like all good drama however, this play relies on commonality in the human experience.

“Don’t let the subject scare you,” said co-director Urschel. “This is still a show about relationships and emotions.”