The Berkshire Theatre Group production of Edward Albee’s “The Goat or Who is Sylvia” is a smash in more ways than one.
First, it is a complex, intriguing and challenging play brilliantly performed. Albee’s reframing of the classic tragedy, this time with laughter, amazement and pathos, is produced so well that the audience could hardly wait to leap to its feet in appreciative applause.
Second, the mesmerizing portrayal of Stevie, the woman scorned, by Jennifer Van Dyck is so electric that when she single-handedly smashes an extensive collection of pottery props adorning the well appointed living room set, it makes so much sense that the audience is with her, every shard of the way.
Albee’s dramas are legendary, not only for their thematic impact but for the way he uses language and demands that his actors establish an unrelenting pattern of give and take. There are no pauses that are not demanded. There are no lines thrown away as entrance or exit. Each word, each line, is critical, and the four actors commanding the Unicorn Theatre stage do not miss a beat. It’s hard to imagine that during their powerful monologues they even have time to catch a breath.
Because Stevie’s character is so complex and her emotions are so wide-ranging the effort to embody her on stage is exhausting. Van Dyck’s performance is, without doubt, the “high bar” for the summer’s performances across all the serious stages in the Berkshires. Others will, no doubt, be excellent, but this is breathtaking.
Her match on the stage is her husband, Martin, presented with complex intensity by Berkshire Theatre Group veteran David Adkins. Throughout the hour and forty-five minute piece, Albee wants us to hate him, to pity him, to revile him for what he does … and yet, in the end, Adkins elegantly captures both the complexity of the character and the impossibility of finding resolution to the tragedy.
Supporting characters Josh Aaron McCabe as long time family friend and confidant Ross, and Evan Silverstein as the couple’s son Billy do yeoman’s work of keeping up with the tsunami of emotion that floods the stage. They are both skillful in not only presenting their characters but ensuring that the energy demands of Adkins and Van Dyck are fully met.
Director Eric Hill has skillfully made the play seamless from lights up to lights down by allowing his actors to inhabit the characters and have their physical drama brilliantly mirror their emotional turmoil.
An easy play? Not really. An important play? Most definitely. A play you should find time to see? Your summer season would be the poorer if you did not.
“The Goat or Who is Sylvia”? The Unicorn Theatre, Stockbridge, Mass. Performances through June 15, get tickets by calling the Berkshire Theatre Box Office at 413-997-4444 or at www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org.
