The play takes place in a theatre where the main character Himself is about to speak to the assembled group about his life of celebrity as "The Man Who Had Three Arms".
In the first act, Himself describes his transformation from a successful family man to a person who is horrified to discover that a third arm is growing from between his shoulder blades.
[clarification needed] The play contains harsh satire of the Catholic Church, the excesses of the culture of celebrity, and the shallowness of parent/child relationships, and involves some interaction between the lead character and the audience.
[1] Reviewing the play from Miami for The Boston Phoenix, Carolyn Clay remarked that "The Man Who Had Three Arms, though well written and bristlingly caustic, is less interesting as a theater piece than as a statement on Albee and what, at 54, he thinks about himself, his career, and his critics.
"[6] Frank Rich reviewing the production for The New York Times wrote that it "isn't a play - it's a temper tantrum in two acts... One of the more shocking lapses of Mr. Albee's writing is that he makes almost no attempt even to pretend that Himself is anything other than a maudlin stand-in for himself, with the disappearing arm representing an atrophied talent.
"[7] The Christian Science Monitor reviewer wrote: "The Man Who Had Three Arms could well be the bitter complaint of a playwright whose earlier great success has been followed by a wounding decline in popular and critical response.