A wicked, concise, and provocative summation of the themes that have guided Edward Albee’s legendary career, The Play About the Baby is a hilarious and intriguing exploration of the bonds between parents and children.
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Review
“An exhilarating, wicked, devastating piece of emotional terrorism.” (Linda Winer, Newsday)
About the Author
Edward Albee’s many awards and honors include the Pulitzer Prize for drama, the Tony Award for best play, and the National Medal of Arts.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Albee's Vaudeville,
By
This review is from: The Play About the Baby - Acting Edition (Paperback)
There was a time when all of Edward Albee's plays were published during or just after their runs. Even lesser known works such as The Lady from Dubuque and Everything in the Garden made it into print. So it is a delight to see that Overlook Press has issued The Play About The Baby in hardcover and will do the same with The Goat in May, 2003. If any American playwright needs to be in print, it is Edward Albee.The Play About The Baby is Albee in vaudeville mode. The characters -- Man, Woman, Boy and Girl -- inhabit a timeless space where they engage in games of love, loss, pain and memory. The most obvious precursor here is Albee's own Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. However, instead of the hypernaturalism of the earlier play, Albee goes for vaudeville this time. In fact, TPATB's Man and Woman might be George and Martha from Who's Afraid, having left New Carthage and now wandering around dispensing their hard-earned (and often unwanted) wisdom. (Or are Boy and Girl just George and Martha at an earlier phase of their lives? Albee's graceful allusiveness and ambiguity are in full force here). Either way, TPATB's humor, while less caustic than its predecessor's, is just as entertaining and theatrical. But don't let me mislead you: both plays are scathing in their assessment of human behavior and clear in their demand that human beings look closely at themselves and the world in which they live. Albee is not out to comfort his audience (has he ever been?), but to confront them -- to wake up, take stock and abandon their cozy pipe dreams. Like O'Neill, Albee writes of the deadening illusions men and women wrap themselves in; like Williams he challenges the system of mendacity that rules people's lives. If you were lucky enough to see The Play About The Baby when it ran Off-Broadway, reading it now will only deepen your appreciation for Albee's artistry. If you are coming to the work for the first time, look forward to a feast of stimulating wit and ideas.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Albee's Vaudeville,
By
This review is from: The Play About the Baby (Hardcover)
There was a time when all of Edward Albee's plays were published during or just after their runs. Even lesser known works such as The Lady from Dubuque and Everything in the Garden made it into print. So it is a delight to see that Overlook Press has issued The Play About The Baby in hardcover and will do the same with The Goat in May, 2003. If any American playwright needs to be in print, it is Edward Albee.The Play About The Baby is Albee in vaudeville mode. The characters -- Man, Woman, Boy and Girl -- inhabit a timeless space where they engage in games of love, loss, pain and memory. The most obvious precursor here is Albee's own Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. However, instead of the hypernaturalism of the earlier play, Albee goes for vaudeville this time. In fact, TPATB's Man and Woman might be George and Martha from Who's Afraid, having left New Carthage and now wandering around dispensing their hard-earned (and often unwanted) wisdom. (Or are Boy and Girl just George and Martha at an earlier phase of their lives? Albee's graceful allusiveness and ambiguity are in full force here). Either way, TPATB's humor, while less caustic than its predecessor's, is just as entertaining and theatrical. But don't let me mislead you: both plays are scathing in their assessment of human behavior and clear in their demand that human beings look closely at themselves and the world in which they live. Albee is not out to comfort his audience (has he ever been?), but to confront them -- to wake up, take stock and abandon their cozy pipe dreams. Like O'Neill, Albee writes of the deadening illusions men and women wrap themselves in; like Williams he challenges the system of mendacity that rules people's lives. If you were lucky enough to see The Play About The Baby when it ran Off-Broadway, reading it now will only deepen your appreciation for Albee's artistry. If you are coming to the work for the first time, look forward to a feast of stimulating wit and ideas.
5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Real Keeper, That Will You Brighten Your Life,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: The Play About the Baby - Acting Edition (Paperback)
Edward Albee's The Play About The Baby, is a wonderfully written masterpiece, that is definitely worth the read. The jokes and witty remarks, that were not catched when viewed on stage, are clearly evident and will keep you entertained for hours. The play is about a younger couple who are madly in love with eachother, and in turn, have a child. Trouble arises, when an older couple steals the baby. Edward Albee's superb writing, turns the plot into an adventure that will leave you begging for more. It is one of the most enjoyable plays that I have read in a long time, and I suggest that you give it a try.
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