The Sandbox

by Edward Albee

Genres: Plays, Drama, Classics, Theatre, Fiction, Contemporary, Adult

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1959

About the author

Noted American playwright Edward Franklin Albee explored the darker aspects of human relationships in plays like Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962) and Three Tall Women (1991), which won his third Pulitzer Prize.

People know Edward Franklin Albee III for works, including The Zoo Story , The Sandbox and The American Dream .
He well crafted his works, considered often unsympathetic examinations of the modern condition. His early works reflected a mastery and Americanization of the theater of the absurd, which found its peak in European playwrights, such as Jean Genet, Samuel Barclay Beckett, and Eugène Ionesco. Younger Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel credits daring mix of theatricalism and biting dialogue of Albee with helping to reinvent the postwar theater in the early 1960s. Dedication of Albee to continuing to evolve his voice — as evidenced in later productions such as The Goat or Who Is Sylvia? (2000) — also routinely marks him as distinct of his era.

Albee described his work as "an examination of the American Scene, an attack on the substitution of artificial for real values in our society, a condemnation of complacency, cruelty, and emasculation and vacuity, a stand against the fiction that everything in this slipping land of ours is peachy-keen."

Reviews

[Agir(آگِر) · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Paras2]

interesting play about deterioration of values and theatricality of life.

[Jack Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow Albee... Wow. I've been reading the reviews posted by others on here and simply do not understand how you couldn't appreciate this piece of work. It's the first play that I've read in a long time that speaks on so many levels while actually presenting close to nothing at all. There is a sandbox (no surprise), there is a family, there is a musician, and there is a young man, that is all you need to know. The language and thematic symbolism within that language is what makes this such a fascinating play. Please give this one a try. If you don't like it, fine. And if you do like it, you might not fully understand why. But at least you experienced it. And it only took you 15 minutes to read.

[Sadan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is how I would describe Albee's absurdist play: A brief self-referential tragicomedy that plays on both connotations of the word absurd; funny and meaningless.

In this mini-play, Albee addresses quite a few important issues such as the meaninglessness of life, the lack of proper communication, the vacuity of family relationships, and the absurdity of social costumes and theatrical conventions.
I'd say it's an intriguing piece and you only need to spare 10 minutes of your time to read it.

[Ramprasad Dutta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Albee!! it cannot be your play.. The story is good, symbols are also relevant.. But it lacks the flow and the so-called razor-edged irony peculiar to Albee.. I am disappointed with the ending as well... Yeah, the pertinent symbol (Death) in the guise of The Young Man (The Angel of Death) serves the purpose of the ubiquitous nature of Death very well, but it fails to make the play as one of the masterpieces... The only relief is, it's a very short play...:-) :-)

[Arisarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird and unusual but in a good way. I guess naturally watching it would be a way better experience than just reading it.

[Marziye Foroughi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absurdist drama along with no specific, brilliant quotation.
The only idea i made connection with is death being a kind of return to youth.

[the pickwick club · Rating 3 out of 5]

grandma fr: https://pin.it/7wF3rPEFW

[Abrar]

I actually studied this play back in 2008 but remember next to nothing about it. I remember abhorring the absurd theater, maybe Albee is was not the right start for I love Beckett's absurd plays.

[Peni Desiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Iseng baca ini. Ga ada bacaan lagi yang menarik.

[Shawn Pudsey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Simplistic and trite.

[Eg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting approach to show dying women and how she accepts her death and how others around doesn't seem to be bothered about it.

[Amira · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not that much into absurdism and all that belongs to post-modernism. Yet I like the symbolism and the way each character represents a category. So I give it 2 stars.

[Eemosaur · Rating 5 out of 5]

■People who criticised it as it was just like the other plays are wrong or maybe they haven't grasped the actual concept or the perception out of this magnificent piece of art .
■Its was so much relatable to every single day and age as Edward Albee perfectly exhibiting how older, sick and weak people are treated by their own family members and how the society is just becoming more and more merciless and pathetic .
■Plus it portrays how inevitable death is and no one knows when it will come or how will it happen but one thing is for sure that just like that man the one exercising on one side of the beach (was actually the angel of death ) and the old lady didn't recognised him , just like tgat death is always around us searching for us whether we apprehend it or not !!.
■AND LASTLY THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS PLAY IS THAT IT WAS A SORT OF MORAL AWAKENING AND A REMINDER FOR INNER SELF THAT ONE MUST BE KIND TO ELDERLY PEOPLE AND THE ONES LOWER THAN YOU, WHICH IS VERY MUCH NEEDED IN TODAYS SOCIETY ❤️

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I study this story as in home reading for the Theatre of Absurd in the modern literature. Literary wise this is very brilliant if you think beyond the words, characters, and the setting. Entertainment wise, it is not very enjoyable I must say, at least in my opinion. I have read many plays in the Theatre of Absurd and I enjoyed them both wise. I love Albee and I have read for him before, but this is not one of my favorites. However it's very simple and short. Still worth to give it a try. It takes like only 10 minutes to read.

[Marco Lizarraga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall: 6-7/10

I think it's a play that requires me to try and break it down more because I didn't really come away with a strong interpretation. I mean, there isn't really a strong set of characters but I don't believe that's the point. It's good, but I would find it a lot more interesting if I had an idea of what it is trying to get at. And it's short.

[Rach · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another little odd play by Albee. Once again, I get it. I get the absurdist drama, I get the images and pictures, and then I am still just ???????

[Roxana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, sharp, clever play, characteristically Albee.

[طَيّف🌿 · Rating 1 out of 5]

.Incomprehensible and boring

[TimetoFangirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just super pretentious.

[Isaak · Rating 2 out of 5]

lol whut

[Raneem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe i do love absurdism, this made me give it another chance

[Bob · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really worth it as a read. Maybe interesting to see it staged, amongst other Albee pieces.

[Angelee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly one of his better early works and short plays. Nails absurdism in structure and narrative so that’s it’s easy to follow and accessible for most audiences. Gets the point across fully.

[Emna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVEEEEED IT

[Jojo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short play, only about 10 pages, and quite odd...

[Kaleigha · Rating 3 out of 5]

ts was stupid

[shoop da woop · Rating 4 out of 5]

what the hell was that

[Thomas Wells · Rating 3 out of 5]

existence is a cage
- ed albee

[katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet