The Zoo Story: The Death of Bessie Smith; The Sandbox; Three Plays

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Coward-McCann, 1960 - Drama - 158 pages
The sandbox: Beginning with brightest day, the Young Man is performing calisthenics (which he continues to do until the very end of the play) near a sandbox (or sandpit) at the beach. Mommy and Daddy have brought Grandma all the way out from the city and place her in the sandbox. As Mommy and Daddy wait nearby in some chairs, the Musician plays off and on, according to what the other characters instruct him to do. Throughout the play, the Young Man is very pleasant, greeting the other characters with a smile as he says, "Hi!". As Mommy and Daddy cease to acknowledge Grandma while they wait, Grandma reverts from her childish behavior and begins to speak coherently to the audience. Grandma and the Young Man begin to converse with each other. Grandma feels comfortable talking with the Young Man as he treats her like a human being (whereas Mommy and Daddy imply through their actions and dialogue that she is more of a chore that they must take care of). While still talking with the Young Man, she reminds someone off-stage that it should be nighttime by now. Once brightest day has become deepest night, Mommy and Daddy hear on-stage rumbling. Acknowledging that the sounds are literally coming from off-stage and not from thunder or breaking waves, Mommy knows that Grandma's death is here and weeps heavily. As daylight resumes, Mommy talks about how they must move on while standing by the sandbox before quickly exiting with Daddy. Although Grandma, who is lying down half buried in sand, has continued to mock Mommy and Daddy, she soon realizes that she can no longer move. It is at this moment that the Young Man finally stops performing his calisthenics and approaches Grandma and the sandbox. As he directs her to be still, he reveals that he is the angel of death and says, "...I am come for you." Even though he says his line like a real amateur, Grandma compliments him and closes her eyes with a smile.

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About the author (1960)

Edward Albee was born in Virginia on March 12, 1928. His first produced play, The Zoo Story, opened in Berlin in 1959 before playing at the Provincetown Playhouse in Greenwich Village the following year. In 1960, it won the Vernon Rice Memorial Award. In 1962, his Broadway debut, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, won a Tony Award for best play. It was adapted into a film starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in 1966. He wrote about 30 plays during his lifetime including The Sandbox, The American Dream, The Death of Bessie Smith, All Over, and The Play About the Baby. He won the Pulitzer Prize three times for A Delicate Balance in 1966, Seascape in 1975, and Three Tall Women in 1991. Three Tall Women also received Best Play awards from the New York Drama Critics Circle and Outer Critics Circle. He won another Tony Award for The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? and a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award in 2005. He had died after a short illness on September 16, 2016 at the age of 88.

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