It’s been a long while, but I don’t think there’s any difference in Albee’s mind between this tenuous moment of connection and the critique of the American Dream – which is often founded on status or material goods.
Reading Zoo Story led me to read a bunch of Albee, but in particular, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
It’s less fundamentally absurdist – the characters are not strangers – but it’s a devastating play and hilariously funny. And at its core are characters desperate for a moment of human connection.
Isn’t this most YA dystopia’s? I mean, you’re stretching a bit on the Hunger Games as well; simply because if that was your goal, then the Battle Royale path makes much more sense than oooh, which boy do I like!
They all play on a coming of age story, the desire of every YA to be special, and playing against categorization and social pressures, which are easy targets.
None of them are remotely serious social commentary like 1984 is.