Does love know no bounds? Can such an idea transcend the restrictions that we, as a society, impose? And why do we buy into such societal limitations?These are some of the questions raised by the theatre studies department’s recent production of Edward Albee’s “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?”

Directed by Jack Zerbe, “The Goat” opened in Sternberger Auditorium on Feb. 18 and showed for the succeeding two nights. The playwright, Albee, best known for the play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is known for his intense portrayal of controversial topics.

The play takes place in the living room of a suburban home belonging to an obviously upscale and seemingly picture-perfect family. The Gray family is a celebration of the “ideal” American lifestyle, complete with a home furnished with immaculately clean granite countertops, a built-in brandy bar and spotless white leather armchairs. The husband and wife’s “perfect” lives – as well as that of their son (first-year Bachi Quinonez) – are shattered, metaphorically and literally, when Stevie (senior Allison Martin) discovers that her husband, Martin (sophomore Jonathan Shine), is having an unusual affair with a goat and reacts by destroying nearly every breakable object in her living room.

“Albee is really good because he’s always confrontational, always provocative, but it’s always for a reason,” said Zerbe, professor of theater studies and the play’s director. “There’s nothing gratuitous. There’s always something he’s trying to get you to really think seriously about.”

“It’s really out there, and I think we’ll probably shock a lot of people,” said senior Ben Storey, who played the character of Ross, Martin’s friend.

Many were shocked, and limits of tolerance may have been reached when, on Friday night, an audience member walked out in the middle of a scene. But according to junior Fran Neylan-Moore, who assisted with set construction, the theatre studies department had expected many more to follow suit.

“Albee constructed his text to challenge our comfort zones, so nervous laughter is a sign of success, not failure,” said Zerbe. “I was especially pleased how the nervous giggles become silence every night. It told me that folks understood that we were exploring something serious. That someone needed to leave in a difficult moment is also a sign of success. Frankly, I was surprised that we didn’t have more walkouts.”

Junior Micheala Barnhart, the play’s stage manager, said of the occurrence, “It shows that we’re doing our jobs.”

But the walkout didn’t discourage attendance.

“I talked to someone who walked out. They told me not to go see it, which only made me want to go see it,” said senior Alex Caliva.

“I’ve seen this play now three times and this was the first night I’ve started laughing at it. The first two times, I was kind of giggling at it, but I was too self-conscious because it is such an uncomfortable play,” Neylan-Moore said after the dress rehearsal on Feb. 17.

At the dress rehearsal, Zerbe had predicted that “the audience (would) be a major part of this performance.”

Junior Kelsey Penland, an audience member, thought that the attempt to include the audience was successful.

“The audience was very responsive,” said Penland. The air was punctuated with rowdy laughter, stunned silence, and gasps of shock.

Many audience members reacted favorably. Junior Matt Putney thought the play “ruled.”

“Every other second crossed the line between being hilarious and making me want to vomit from intense drama,” Putney said.

“I thought the play was awesome,” junior Mara Karell said. “The acting was well done and the set was absolutely stunning. I also thought that the play itself had good tension. It was very dynamic.”

In regards to Stevie’s violent reaction in the play, Penland thought that Martin’s portrayal was true to form.

“I felt like Allison (Martin) breaking things was a really realistic portrayal of how someone would react to the discovery that their husband was (copulating) with a goat,” Penland said. “It brought out the inexpressible emotion that one would feel in such a situation.”

The choice to perform “The Goat” was left to students in the theatre studies department.

“Everyone was introduced to the play in Jack’s (Zerbe) play analysis class,” said Barnhart. “When you look that closely at a text, you want to perform it.”

Next up on the theatre studies department’s schedule is Sam Shepard’s “Curse of the Starving Class,” showing April 2-3 and 8-10 in Sternberger Auditorium.