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The tale of a married, middle-aged architect, Martin, his wife Stevie, and their
son Billy, whose lives crumble when Martin 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 moral
judgment of social taboos.
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". |
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"Sometimes the crowd laughs so much
that it's hard to hear what is said on the stage...
Expectations were high and the play does not live up to
them, which absolutely does not depend on the actors.
Nyqvist and Reuter are both brilliant, Albin Flinkas as
well. Jacob Ericksson does play the role of Screw Ross
very well, but honestly he fits better in the TV
children's program where we usually see him.
Disappointment is the strongest feeling when I leave the
concert hall. But one thing is still a little
fascinating - I've never seen a piece where the word
f*** is used at least a hundred times." ...Nina
Bromen, NT.se
"Geten comes to Sweden for the
first time. A newly written piece that made success both
on Broadway in New York and in London's West End, and
was awarded the Tony Award for Best Play 2002. It's a
black comedy about dark secrets. Equally provocative as
Virginia Woolf, if not more. It is about an
architect who's on top of his career and lives a perfect
life with his wife and son. Suddenly things happen that
cannot happen. He falls in love with Sylvia. Albee
wanted to write a play that provokes and challenges our
moral concept." ...Malin Dahlberg /
TT Spektra, September 15, 2005
"This play does not resemble Albee's
major international success Who is afraid of Virginia
Woolf? In Geten we are not on a solid
psychological basis. We are in a very uncertain area.
The matter is about what happens when a revelation hits
a person with full strength. Here it is the successful
architect Martin who, when he is fifty years old, stands
on the verge of his career suffering from the absurd
love for a goat... Michael Nyqvist is superb in the lead
role. He plays without big executions, but with a calm
commitment to the role of convincing... You leave
the theater with your head buzzing with thoughts.
Everyone is not quite pleasant. Do you have to slaughter
the goat?" ...Åke S Pettersson, alba.nu
"Geten is a grotesque Broadway piece
about a successful architect and his chic wife, and
about what happens when the man begins to romance a
goat... I think during the first act. I feel critical
and a little disgusted. Even though the actors are
superb and the text (and the translation of it!)
Amazing. I participate intensively in all that happens,
do not have a chance to cope. It's entertaining.
Engaging. But the laughs bother me... Edward Albee's
play is provocative because it's about a man who thinks
it's perfectly okay to disturb animals. And yet, he
appears as sensitive, intelligent and sympathetic. And
allowed to submit his views from the stage. When the
play ends, he stands kneeling at the murdered goat and
awakens my sympathy and understanding... This is
worse than Lars Norén! I leave the Lorensberg
theater with very mixed feelings. ...Kajsa
Öberg Lindsten, alba.nu
"Michael Nyqvist plays Martin with retained
concentration... All he can do is repeat "you do not
understand" as a mantra. Suzanne Reuter as Stevie gets
the show going from comedy to tragedy by sharpening his
game. 'This is too serious to be taken seriously,' says
Stevie while frantically crushing the dinner porcelain
and letting her sarcasm win friends. It's great acting
art... The problem is that the meaning of Albee's play
remains unclear. He has pulled out the comedy of
absurdity by showing the most forbidden. Bestiality. It
deals with a superficial plan about the need for total
tolerance in front of something we have zero tolerance
to. But it does not work." ...Theater
critic Sthig Jonasson
Vasateatern, Stockholm
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