The Sandbox

The Sandbox satirizes the concept of the American nuclear family, which became popularized through 1950s television and other media as part of the new postwar iteration of the American Dream. After World War II, the American economy was thriving, boosting materialism and consumerism. As suburbs grew around major cities, the American Dream became synonymous with having a good job, owning a home in the suburbs, and filling that home with an ideal nuclear family. As seen on TV, this nuclear family included a warm, loving housewife; a strong, masculine husband who works and supports the family; and two or three perfect children. At the foundation of this idea was capitalism, since none of these goals were possible without at least a middle-class income. Albee’s skepticism of the American family, a common theme in his plays, arises from his tense relationship with his own wealthy adoptive parents and a mother whom he felt was distant and unaffectionate.

The Sandbox depicts a failed version of the nuclear family. Albee’s critique of consumerism is primarily explored in The American Dream, but The Sandbox shows the resulting familial relationships that are an extension of materialism and consumerism. Mommy married