The American Dream (play)

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The American Dream is an early, one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. It was first staged 24 January 1961 at the York Playhouse in New York City. The play, a satire on American family life, concerns a married couple and their grandmother. They are visited by two guests this particular day who turn their world upside down.

The play is a satire on American family life. The family in this play consist of a dominating Mommy, an emasculated Daddy and a clever and witty Grandma. A neighbor, Mrs. Barker enters and the tiresome dialogue continues with the occasional witty inerjection by Grandma. Mommy and Daddy exit leaving Mrs. Barker and Grandma alone. Grandma apparently knows why Mrs. Barker has been asked to come by and explains to her that Mommy and Daddy had adopted a son from her many years previous. As the parents objected to the child's actions, they mutilated it as punishment, eventually killing it. After Mrs. Barker exits, a Young Man appears at the door looking for work. After hearing his life story, Grandma realizes that this Young Man, whom she dubs "The American Dream," is the twin of Mommy and Daddy's first child. As the first child was mutilated, he too was experiencing the pain and has been left as an empty shell of a man. After seeing this Young Man as a way out, she moves her things and leaves. The Young Man is introduced to the family as a suitable replacement for the original child.

Albee explores not only the falsity of the American Dream but the substitution of artificial values for real ones.

[edit] References

Albee, Edward. The American Dream and The Zoo Story: Two Plays by Edward Albee. New York: Plume Books, 1997.
Popkin, Henry. Edward Albee in Gassner, John and Edward Quinn, ed. The Reader's Encyclopedia of World Drama. New York: Thomas Crowell and Co., 1969.

Plays by Edward Albee