80-552: Edward Franklin Albee III ( / ˈ ɔː l b iː / AWL -bee ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as The Zoo Story (1958), The Sandbox (1959), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), A Delicate Balance (1966), and Three Tall Women (1994). Some critics have argued that some of his work constitutes an American variant of what Martin Esslin identified as and named
160-475: A sucker punch at a backyard party, George disappears. The story continues, with Nick and Honey laughing, until George appears with a rifle and fires at Martha. To their surprise, a Chinese parasol pops out of the gun barrel. Everyone finds this extremely funny, but Martha quickly resumes her taunting of George, which culminates in Martha relating how her father had thought that George would eventually rise to lead
240-446: A " hysterical pregnancy ". George tells Nick about a time he went to a gin mill with some boarding school classmates, one of whom had accidentally killed his mother by shooting her. This friend was mocked for ordering "bergin" ( bourbon ). The following summer, the young friend was driving with his father and suddenly swerved to avoid a porcupine , accidentally killing his father. The boy was then sent to an asylum and became mute. As
320-1054: A 1980 production in New Haven. Diana Rigg and David Suchet starred in a 1996 production of the play at the Almeida Theatre in London before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End in 1997. Patrick Stewart and Mercedes Ruehl starred in a 2000–2001 production at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. The play was revived on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre , opening on 12 March 2005, in previews and closing on 4 September 2005, after 8 previews and 177 performances. Directed by Anthony Page , it starred Kathleen Turner as Martha and Bill Irwin as George, with Mireille Enos as Honey and David Harbour as Nick. Irwin won
400-806: A Distinguished Professor of Playwriting and held the Lyndall Finley Wortham Chair in the Performing Arts at the University of Houston . His plays are published by Dramatists Play Service and Samuel French, Inc. Albee established the Edward F. Albee Foundation, Inc. in 1967, from royalties from his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? . The foundation funds the William Flanagan Memorial Creative Persons Center (named after
480-512: A close friend of English-born Muir Weissinger Jr. and his family. Albee, along with others, referred to Florence, Muir's mother, as "Mummy." For her part, Albee's mother felt he spent too much time at the Weissinger household. Albee dated Muir's sister, Delphine, and escorted her to her coming-out party. Albee and Delphine had a "long and intense relationship" while it lasted; Albee has said they were "unofficially engaged." Albee kept in touch for
560-565: A combination of scornful mimicry and supplication. Albee wrote a prequel to The Zoo Story , titled Homelife . Homelife is written as the first act, with The Zoo Story as the second act, in a new play called Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo (initially titled Peter & Jerry ). Homelife was first read publicly at the Last Frontier Theatre Conference . Christopher Wallenberg wrote of The Zoo Story : "Over
640-806: A conflicted relationship. Albee attended the Rye Country Day School, then the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, from which he was expelled. He then was sent to Valley Forge Military Academy in Wayne, Pennsylvania, where he was dismissed in less than a year. He enrolled at The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut , graduating in 1946. He had attracted theatre attention by having scripted and published nine poems, eleven short stories, essays,
720-517: A drama award at all. The two members of the jury, John Mason Brown and John Gassner , subsequently resigned in protest. An Academy Award -winning film adaptation by Ernest Lehman was released in 1966 starring Elizabeth Taylor , Richard Burton , George Segal , and Sandy Dennis , and was directed by Mike Nichols . In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by
800-424: A knife on Peter, and then drops it as initiative for Peter to grab. When Peter holds the knife defensively, Jerry charges him and impales himself on the knife. Bleeding on the park bench, Jerry finishes his zoo story by bringing it into the immediate present: "Could I have planned all this. No... no, I couldn't have. But I think I did." Horrified, Peter runs away from Jerry, whose dying words, "Oh...my...God", are
880-452: A legend, done in elegant calligraphy, that read, "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?" The New Yorker responded in 2013 by suggesting that perhaps the graffiti that Albee saw was the same graffiti that The New Yorker reported in 1957. In an interview, Albee said Martha and George were based on two of his friends, married New York socialites Willard Maas and Marie Menken . Maas was a professor of literature at Wagner College and Menken
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#1732780331275960-527: A long act play, Schism , and a 500-page novel, The Flesh of Unbelievers (Horn, 1) in 1946. His formal education continued at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, where he was expelled in 1947 for skipping classes and refusing to attend compulsory chapel. Albee left home for good in his late teens. In a later interview, he said: "I never felt comfortable with the adoptive parents. I don't think they knew how to be parents. I probably didn't know how to be
1040-414: A long time with Florence and Muir Weissinger. Albee insisted that he did not want to be known as a "gay writer", saying in his acceptance speech for the 2011 Lambda Literary Foundation 's Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement: "A writer who happens to be gay or lesbian must be able to transcend self. I am not a gay writer. I am a writer who happens to be gay." His longtime partner, Jonathan Richard Thomas,
1120-587: A mother figure in their lives. George and Martha's chance at a perfect family was ruined by infertility and George's failure to become a prominent figure at the university. The play's title alludes to the English novelist Virginia Woolf . She died by suicide at age 59 in 1941. She left behind a note in which she expressed love for her husband Leonard Woolf and sorrow for the anguish she was causing him. Twenty years later, playwright Edward Albee corresponded with him, asking permission to use his late wife's name in
1200-507: A nonagenarian revisits events of her life refracted through both her own dementia and the differing recollections of her younger selves, is a not-quite-memory play filled with regret, resentment, entitlement, various bodily indignities". Georgia State University English professor Matthew Roudane divides Albee's plays into three periods: the Early Plays (1959–1966), characterized by gladiatorial confrontations, bloodied action and fight to
1280-428: A performance and enjoyed it, according to an acquaintance of his, literary critic Leon Edel. In 1963, Columbia Masterworks released a four- LP boxed recording of the original Broadway cast performing the entire play, directed by Alan Schneider . The release contained a 16 page booklet with photos from the original production, critical essays by Harold Clurman and Walter Kerr , cast and crew biographies, and
1360-620: A production by Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre. The show ran from 5 July – 17 July 2011, in Victoria, British Columbia . On 21 February 2017, a production directed by James Macdonald began at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London , featuring Imelda Staunton , Conleth Hill , Imogen Poots , and Luke Treadaway . It ran until 27 May 2017. A Broadway revival was scheduled to premiere on 9 April 2020, in
1440-466: A production directed by Joe Mantello and produced by Scott Rudin . It was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic after 9 preview performances, without officially opening. It starred Laurie Metcalf , Rupert Everett , Russell Tovey , and Patsy Ferran . Eddie Izzard had been set to play George, but it was announced on 11 September 2019, that Everett would replace her. In 1995 and 1996,
1520-475: A rather typical, university intellectual joke. The title phrase happened to appear five years before the play's premiere, in a 1957 issue of The New Yorker : A coffee fiend we know dropped into an espresso joint in Greenwich Village the other day and found himself whiling away his time reading the graffiti on the wall beside his chair. Most of the stuff was pretty humdrum, but he was arrested by
1600-513: A sculptor, died on May 2, 2005, from bladder cancer. They had been partners from 1971 until Thomas's death. Albee also had a relationship of several years with playwright Terrence McNally during the 1950s. Albee died at his home in Montauk, New York on September 16, 2016, aged 88. Albee lived in a 6,000-square-foot loft that was a former cheese warehouse in New York's Tribeca neighborhood. At
1680-437: A short article by Goddard Lieberson on the task of recording the play. The introduction is by Albee, in which he writes, "I cannot conceive of anyone wanting to buy [this] massive album; but ... every playwright wants as much permanence for his work as he can get." The recording was issued in both stereo (DOS 687) and monaural (DOL 287) formats. It was out of print for many years, was not released in other formats, and
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#17327803312751760-520: A son, either." In a 1994 interview, he said he left home at 18 because "[he] had to get out of that stultifying, suffocating environment." In 2008, he told interviewer Charlie Rose that he was "thrown out" because his parents wanted him to become a "corporate thug" and did not approve of his aspirations to be a writer. Albee moved into New York's Greenwich Village , where he supported himself with odd jobs while learning to write plays. Primarily in his early plays, Albee's work had various representations of
1840-418: A story about a completely different person. Martha demands proof, but George insists on the reality of the situation. Martha, distraught, collapses. It slowly dawns on Nick that the son George and Martha have been talking about is not real. The fictional son is a "game" the two have been playing since discovering early in their marriage that they are infertile. George has decided to "kill" him because Martha broke
1920-473: A success-crazed culture they are never forgiven for failing to live up to their own early masterpieces. But if Edward Albee has suffered the same cruel fate as Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams , he has kept on trucking". Billington wrote of Albee's 1987 play, Marriage Play , "At the end the play achieves a metaphorical resonance by suggesting that marriage is an accumulation of meaningless habits and that "nothing has made any difference". In 1991 he wrote
2000-674: A young married couple she met at the party over for a drink. (Also cut in the definitive edition: Just before the couple—Nick and Honey—arrives, George gives a vague warning about "the bit with the kid" that Martha appears to understand.) As the four drink, Martha and George engage in scathing verbal abuse of each other in front of Nick and Honey. These interactions embarrass the younger couple, but they stay. At one point, Honey lets on that Martha told her about their son, which appears to unnerve George. After this, Martha's taunts and George's passive aggression only increase. When Martha launches into an embarrassing story about how she humiliated him with
2080-481: Is a pun on the song " Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? " from Walt Disney 's Three Little Pigs (1933), substituting the name of the celebrated English author Virginia Woolf . Martha and George repeatedly sing this version of the song throughout the play. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? won both the 1963 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1962–1963 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play. It
2160-403: Is a lovely, poignant and deeply felt play. In no way at all is it an easy play -- this formal minuet of death, this symphony ironically celebrating death's dominion. It is not easy in its structure, a series of almost operatic arias demanding, in their precision, pin-point concentration from the audience, and it is certainly not easy in its subject matter." In 1974 he wrote Seascape , which won
2240-442: Is frequently revived on the modern stage. The film adaptation was released in 1966, written by Ernest Lehman , directed by Mike Nichols , and starring Richard Burton , Elizabeth Taylor , George Segal , and Sandy Dennis . George is an associate professor of history, and his wife Martha is the daughter of the president of the college where George teaches. After they return home from a faculty party, Martha reveals she has invited
2320-464: Is highly prized among collectors, as a play with such adult themes had never been recorded for the general public before. It was finally re-released in 2014 by Masterworks Broadway . In 1970, Henry Fonda and Richard Burton attempted to recruit Warren Beatty and Jon Voight for an all-male production, but Albee refused permission. Colleen Dewhurst and Ben Gazzara starred in a 1976 Broadway revival. Mike Nichols and Elaine May starred in
2400-571: Is missing essential pages. The Zoo Story is referenced in Jay McInerney 's 1988 novel Story of My Life , Michel Tremblay ’s 1992 memoir Douze Coups de Théâtre (English: Twelve Opening Acts ), and Bill Hader 's TV series Barry (2018). The Zoo Story is referenced in the 2024 film Woman of the Hour . While on a date with a serial killer, the main character of the film, played by Anna Kendrick , refers to The Zoo Story and quotes
2480-485: Is referenced in the 1993 film Grumpy Old Men . The Zoo Story is a central element in the 2008 novel Qiṣṣat hadīqat al-ḥayawān (English: The Zoo Story ), by Moroccan playwright and novelist Yūsuf Fāḍil, set in the milieu of actors and playwrights in 1970s Morocco and Moroccans in Paris. The two main characters of the novel, Al-Sīmū and Rašīd, want to perform a Moroccan version of the play, but their copy of Albee's work
Edward Albee - Misplaced Pages Continue
2560-606: The Libera me (part of the Requiem Mass , the Latin mass for the dead) and Kyrie eleison ( ancient Greek : "Lord, have mercy"). This continues until George informs Martha that the doorbell earlier was a messenger from Western Union arriving with a telegram that George says informed him that their son was dead, having been killed in a car crash when he swerved to avoid a porcupine—the exact wording that George earlier used in
2640-545: The Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. Notably, it was this 2005 production that led to the publication of a revised script – one that has been used ever since – although many of its revisions were introduced in earlier productions. Among the revisions was the removal of early references to George and Martha's son, as well as the reference to the fact that George felt that he helped cause his parents' death, which
2720-552: The Billy Rose Theatre on October 13, 1962, and closed on May 16, 1964, after five previews and 664 performances. The opening night cast featured Uta Hagen . Arthur Hill , George Grizzard and Melinda Dillon . The play won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1963 and was selected for the 1963 Pulitzer Prize by the award's drama jury, but the selection was overruled by the advisory committee, which elected not to give
2800-636: The Booth Theatre on 27 September 2012, opening on 13 October, 50 years after the original Broadway opening. MacKinnon again directed, with the Steppenwolf cast reprising their roles. The production and cast received praise in The New York Times from reviewer Charles Isherwood . Letts won the 2013 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play . Meg Tilly returned to acting in 2011 to play Martha in
2880-694: The Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts (both in 1996). In 2009, Albee received honorary degree from the Bulgarian National Academy of Theater and Film Arts (NATFA), a member of the Global Alliance of Theater Schools. In 2008, in celebration of Albee's 80th birthday, a number of his plays were mounted in distinguished Off-Broadway venues, including the historic Cherry Lane Theatre where
2960-783: The LGBT QIA community often challenging the image of a heterosexual marriage. Despite challenging society's views about the gay community, he did not view himself as an LGBT advocate. Albee's work typically criticized the American Dream . His first play, The Zoo Story , written in three weeks, was first staged in Berlin in 1959 before premiering Off-Broadway in 1960. His next, The Death of Bessie Smith , similarly premiered in Berlin before arriving in New York. Albee's most iconic play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , opened on Broadway at
3040-619: The Library of Congress as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". In 1971 he wrote All Over , a two-act play originally titled, Death , the second half of a projected double bill with another play called Life (which later became Seascape ). The play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre with John Gielgud directing and starred Jessica Tandy , Madeleine Sherwood , and Colleen Dewhurst . The New York Times writer Clive Barnes wrote, "It
3120-472: The Pulitzer Prize for Drama . It debuted on Broadway with Deborah Kerr and Frank Langella . It was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play losing to Peter Shaffer 's Equus . Clive Barnes of The New York Times declared the play "a major event", adding, "As Mr. Albee has matured as a playwright, his work has become leaner, sparer and simpler. He depends on strong theatrical strokes to attract
3200-689: The Schiller Theater Werkstatt on September 28, 1959, in a double bill with the German premiere of Samuel Beckett 's Krapp's Last Tape . The play premiered in the United States Off-Broadway in a production by Theatre 1960 at the Provincetown Playhouse on January 14, 1960, and closed on May 21, 1961. The play was paired with Krapp's Last Tape . Directed by Milton Katselas , the cast
3280-538: The Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago began performances of the play featuring Amy Morton as Martha, Tracy Letts (the Pulitzer Prize -winning playwright of August: Osage County ) as George, Carrie Coon , and Madison Dirks. The production was directed by Pam MacKinnon , who previously directed the premieres of Albee's Peter and Jerry and Occupant . This production began previews on Broadway at
Edward Albee - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-632: The Theater of the Absurd . Three of his plays won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and two of his other works won the Tony Award for Best Play . His works are often considered frank examinations of the modern condition. His early works reflect a mastery and Americanization of the Theatre of the Absurd that found its peak in works by European playwrights such as Samuel Beckett , Eugène Ionesco , and Jean Genet . His middle period comprised plays that explored
3440-591: The 2005 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his role. The production transferred to London's West End at the Apollo Theatre with the entire original cast, running from 31 January to 13 May 2006. In January 2007, the production played at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, for one month. On 6 February 2007, the production began a six-week run at
3520-700: The Canadian One Yellow Rabbit troupe mounted a homage in dance to Albee, Permission , in the form of an hour-long ballet inspired by Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf . It was performed in Calgary, Toronto, Phoenix, Guadalajara, and Mexico City. In 2018 the Elevator Repair Service premiered a sequel written by Kate Scelsa, titled Everyone's Fine with Virginia Woolf . This play introduces new plot elements such as vampirism . Multiple television shows have episodes parodying
3600-789: The Hartford Stage in 2004, with Pam MacKinnon directing and Frank Wood as Peter, Johanna Day as Ann, and Fred Weller as Jerry. The play was produced Off-Broadway at the Second Stage Theatre in 2007, and starred Bill Pullman , Dallas Roberts and Johanna Day . It was titled Peter and Jerry . The play, titled Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo played at American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco in June 2009, with Anthony Fusco as Peter, René Augesen as his wife Ann, and Manoel Felciano as Jerry. At Home at
3680-608: The Zoo had its Pittsburgh -area premiere as the inaugural show of the Ghostlight Theatre Troupe in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania in July 2010. It starred Rich Kenzie as Peter, Mary Romeo as Ann and Ned Johnstone as Jerry and was directed by Gabe Herlinger. At Home at the Zoo opened on February 23, 2018, at New York's Signature Theatre, starring Katie Finneran, Robert Sean Leonard and Paul Sparks. The Zoo Story
3760-491: The attention of the audience, but the tone of the writing is always thoughtful, even careful, even philosophic." He compared his work alongside Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter . Albee continued to write plays including Listening (1976), Counting the Ways (1976) before a brief break before The Lady from Dubuque (1980) which had a short run on Broadway. He wrote the three act play The Man Who Had Three Arms (1983) which
3840-534: The bathroom to vomit. Martha begins to openly seduce Nick in the living room right in front of George, who blithely smiles and pretends to read a book. This greatly annoys Martha, who tells George that if he does nothing to stop her, she'll have sex with Nick. George is unmoved, so Martha goes upstairs with Nick. Immediately, an enraged George throws his book against the house's doorbell chimes, which ring out as he promises to make Martha "regret this." In some productions until 2006, Honey then returns, wondering who rang
3920-406: The college, but George's lack of ambition has made him pathetic to Martha, who calls him a "great big fat flop." George reacts violently by breaking a bottle. Honey, who has grown more and more deliriously drunk, quickly runs to the bathroom to vomit, leaving George alone with glass all over the room. Nick returns to find George alone. As they talk about their wives, Nick reveals that Honey once had
4000-520: The composer William Flanagan , but better known as "The Barn") in Montauk, New York , as a residence for writers and visual artists. The foundation's mission is "to serve writers and visual artists from all walks of life, by providing time and space in which to work without disturbance." Albee was gay and stated that he first knew he was gay at age 12 and a half. As a teen in Larchmont, Albee became
4080-494: The doorbell. George then interrogates Honey about her pregnancy, then openly tells Honey that he is going to inform Martha that their son has died. In a 2006 revision by the author of the script, however, this scene is cut. Martha enters an empty living room and shouts for the others to come out of hiding. Nick joins her. The doorbell rings, and George enters carrying snapdragons and making literary jokes that Martha seems to actually enjoy. Martha and George then argue about whether
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#17327803312754160-407: The game's single rule: not to mention the boy to anyone else. Overcome with pity, Nick and Honey leave. Martha suggests that they could invent a new imaginary child, but George insists they cannot. The play ends with George singing "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?", a joke song someone sang that night at the faculty party. Martha weakly replies, "I am, George. I am." Albee has said that the title of
4240-595: The insinuation that the deaths were actually murder), but Martha's father would not let it be published. George attacks Martha, but Nick separates them. Clearly not satisfied, George launches into a new "game" called "Get the Guests," in which George begins telling a story about a "mousie" that is a thinly-veiled retelling of everything Nick told George about Honey, including her alcoholism and her "hysterical pregnancy," implying that Honey "trapped" Nick into marrying her by pretending to be pregnant. Honey, devastated, again runs to
4320-432: The inspiration for the title: I was in there [ at a saloon in New York ] having a beer one night, and I saw "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?" scrawled in soap, I suppose, on this mirror. When I started to write the play it cropped up in my mind again. And of course, who's afraid of Virginia Woolf means who's afraid of the big bad wolf – who's afraid of living life without false illusions. And it did strike me as being
4400-714: The line “Sometimes it’s necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly”. Who%27s Afraid of Virginia Woolf%3F Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October ;1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of middle-aged couple Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive unwitting younger couple Nick and Honey as guests, and draw them into their bitter and frustrated relationship. The three-act play normally takes just under three hours to perform, with two 10 minute intermissions . The title
4480-719: The metaphorical death; the Middle Plays (1971–1987), when Albee lost the favor of Broadway audience and started premiering in the U.S. regional theaters and in Europe; and the Later Plays (1991–2016), received as a remarkable comeback and watched by appreciative audiences and critics the world over. According to The New York Times , Albee was "widely considered to be the foremost American playwright of his generation." The less-than-diligent student later dedicated much of his time to promoting American university theatre. He served as
4560-541: The moon is up, an odd game whose metaphors reveal that Nick was too drunk to have sex with Martha upstairs. George asks Nick to bring Honey back for the final game, "Bringing Up Baby." Nick and Honey sit helplessly as George, at last, talks openly about his and Martha's son. As he accuses Martha of being overbearing to their son, she protests, leading George to ask for her "recitation." Martha agrees, and begins to recall their son's beauty and talents and accuses George of ruining his life. As she speaks, George recites sections of
4640-478: The people around them. Societal norms of the 1950s consisted of a nuclear family: two parents and two (or more) children. This conception was picturesque in the idea that the father was the breadwinner, the mother a homemaker, and the children well-behaved. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? smashes these conventions and shows realistic families that are far from perfect and possibly ruined. The families of Honey and Martha were dominated by their fathers, with no sign of
4720-472: The play Three Tall Women , a two act play that premiered at the Vienna's English Theatre about three unnamed women. The play was revived in 2018 directed by Joe Mantello starring Glenda Jackson , Laurie Metcalf , and Allison Pill . The 2018 production received the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play . Allison Adato of Entertainment Weekly wrote of the play, "Edward Albee's Three Tall Women, in which
4800-543: The play "means who's afraid of the big bad wolf ... who's afraid of living life without false illusions." Albee's interest in the theme of reality versus illusion is expressed in a number of his plays. In discussing Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? he cites Nietzsche's interpretation of the Apollonian/Dionysian dichotomy of ancient Greek drama, as described in The Birth of Tragedy . Albee says, There
4880-572: The play was published in 1962 and was one of the early releases of Atheneum Books . It sold over 70,000 copies in hard and soft cover editions. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theatre on 13 October 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey, and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider . Subsequent cast members included Henderson Forsythe , Eileen Fulton , Nancy Kelly , Mercedes McCambridge , and Elaine Stritch . Because of
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#17327803312754960-496: The play's unusual length (over three hours), the producers also cast a matinee company that performed twice a week, featuring Kate Reid as Martha, Shepperd Strudwick as George, Avra Petrides as Honey, and Bill Berger as Nick. As with the evening company, these matinee performances also sold out. The play closed on 16 May 1964, after 5 previews and 664 performances. It opened in London in 1965, starring Constance Cummings . Virginia Woolf's widower Leonard attended
5040-440: The play, but no truth or apparent reality is supplied in its place. "All truth", George says, " [becomes] relative". Christopher Bigsby asserts that this play opposes the idea of a perfect American family and societal expectations as it "attacks the false optimism and myopic confidence of modern society". Albee takes a heavy-handed approach to displaying this contrast, making examples of every character and their expectations of
5120-472: The playwright directed two of his early one-acts, The American Dream and The Sandbox . Honorary awards " Edward Albee ". Charlie Rose , May 27, 2008. The Zoo Story The Zoo Story is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee . His first play, it was written in 1958 and completed in just three weeks. Rejected by New York producers, the play premiered in West Berlin at
5200-438: The psychology of maturing, marriage and sexual relationships. Younger American playwrights, such as Paula Vogel , credit Albee's mix of theatricality and biting dialogue with helping to reinvent postwar American theatre in the early 1960s. Later in life, Albee continued to experiment in works such as The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (2002). Edward Albee was born in 1928. His biological father left his mother, Louise Harvey, and he
5280-455: The reason behind his visit to the zoo . The action is linear, unfolding in front of the audience in “real time”. The elements of ironic humor and unrelenting dramatic suspense are brought to a climax when Jerry brings his victim down to his own savage level. Eventually, Peter has had enough of his strange companion and tries to leave. Jerry begins pushing Peter off the bench and challenges him to fight for his territory. Unexpectedly, Jerry pulls
5360-538: The show to shoot a film.) This one-act play concerns two characters, Peter and Jerry, who meet on a park bench in New York City 's Central Park . Peter is a wealthy publishing executive with a wife, two daughters, two cats, and two parakeets. Jerry is an isolated and disheartened man, desperate to have a meaningful conversation with another human being. He intrudes on Peter's peaceful state by interrogating him and forcing him to listen to stories about his life and
5440-430: The story concludes, George and Nick discuss children, but the conversation turns insulting before Martha and Honey return. Honey calls for music, so they put on a record. Because George refuses to dance, Martha dances with Nick, taunting George by making the dance very sensual while she tells another embarrassing story about George: his efforts to publish a novel about a boy who accidentally killed both of his parents (with
5520-560: The time of his death Albee held an expansive collection of fine art, utilitarian works and sculptures. Albee was especially interested in artworks created by indigenous cultures in Africa and Oceania. Works written or adapted by Albee: A member of the Dramatists Guild Council, Albee received three Pulitzer Prizes for drama —for A Delicate Balance (1967), Seascape (1975), and Three Tall Women (1994). Albee
5600-464: The title of a new play, according to literary critic Leon Edel , an acquaintance of Leonard Woolf. Woolf granted permission, according to Edel. Edward Albee's title also pokes fun at the song " Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? " from Walt Disney 's animated version of The Three Little Pigs . Because the rights to the Disney song are expensive, most stage versions, and the film, have Martha sing to
5680-475: The tune of " Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush ", a melody that fits the meter fairly well and is in the public domain . In the first few moments of the play, it is revealed that someone sang the song earlier in the evening at a party, although who first sang it (Martha or some other anonymous party guest) remains unclear. Martha repeatedly needles George over whether he found it funny. Albee described
5760-443: The ugliness of their marriage by taking refuge in illusion." The play demonstrates "how his characters must rid themselves of falsehood and return to the world in which they must live." The distinction between truth and illusion is at times deliberately unclear. The existence of the child, the "murder" by George of his parents, or Honey's "pregnancy" may be illusions, but they seem real to the characters. Illusions may be exorcised in
5840-519: The years, he'd [Albee] always had a nagging feeling that something was missing from the piece’s unsettling encounter between two very different men on a Central Park bench ..." Albee said: " The Zoo Story is a good play. It's a play that I'm very happy I wrote. But it's a play with one and a half characters. Jerry is a fully developed, three-dimensional character. But Peter is a backboard. He’s not fully developed. Peter had to be more fleshed out." The two-act play Peter and Jerry had its world premiere at
5920-577: Was William Daniels (Peter) and George Maharis (Jerry). Maharis left the production on March 6, 1960, to film Exodus . Peter Mark Richman (then known as Mark Richman) took over the role of Jerry on March 8, 1960. Daniels and Richman performed to rave reviews for more than nine months. Richman left the production in January 1961. The play won the 1960 Obie Award for Distinguished Play and Distinguished Performance, William Daniels. (Michael Karlan replaced Mark Richman for six weeks when Richman left
6000-422: Was a time when people believed in deities. And then revolutions came – industrial , French , Freudian , Marxist . God and absolutes vanished. Individuals find this very difficult and uncomfortable. All they have left is fantasy or the examination of the self. According to Lawrence Kingsley, Albee's characters create illusions to help them evade feelings of their own inadequacy – as "George and Martha have evaded
6080-505: Was an experimental filmmaker and painter. Maas and Menken were known for their infamous salons, where drinking would "commence at 4 PM on Friday and end in the wee hours of night on Monday" (according to Gerard Malanga , an Andy Warhol associate and friend to Maas). The primary conflict between George and Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? derived from Maas's and Menken's tempestuous and volatile relationship. The print edition of
6160-682: Was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1972. In 1985, Albee was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame . In 1999, Albee received the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award as a Master American Dramatist. He received a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement (2005); the gold medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1980); as well as
6240-646: Was originally the subject of his failed novel. A roughly 7 page scene with George and Honey at the end of Act II has also been removed completely. These and other changes seem to be there to clarify plot points, but arguably rob the play of some of its ambiguity and tenuous relationship with realism. The play toured in the US and played in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Theatre from 11 April – 12 May 2007. On 12 December 2010,
6320-469: Was placed for adoption two weeks later and taken to Larchmont, New York, where he grew up. Albee's adoptive father, Reed A. Albee , the wealthy son of vaudeville magnate Edward Franklin Albee ;II , owned several theaters. His adoptive mother, Reed's second wife, Frances (Cotter), was a socialite. He later based the main character of his 1991 play Three Tall Women on his mother, with whom he had
6400-545: Was received negatively with Frank Rich of The New York Times writing, "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." Albee's plays during the 1980s received mixed reviews with Michael Billington of The Guardian writing, "American dramatists invariably end up as victims of their own myth: in
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