Who's Afraid Playbill

7/28/2019 Who's Afraid Playbill

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Whos Afraid ofVirginia Woolf?

By Edward Albee

Directed by Ethan McSweeny

The Head Theater

200809

Next Stage Rsour Gud


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Artistic Director Irene Lewis has always resisted being singled out as a Woan

Director, perhaps because of the ways in which that label had been thrust upon her

by others fro the beginning of her career. I was the only feale director in y

class at Yale, and one of y classates rearked that I was taking up a ans space.

There were only two woen artistic directors in the country back then. One didnt

hire other woen very uch, and the other was based in Texasso it was tricky

getting a break.

When breaks did happen, they were often late in coing and loaded down with

expectations. When I was hired at Hartford Stage Copany in the 1970sI was

only the second woan to direct thereit took ve years before the artistic director

gave e a show to direct on the ain stage. And I think that was only because Idjust directed a theater piece for the Hartford Syphony. The scale involved seeed

to convince hi that aybe I had arrived. Even then, the anaging director said to

ewithout any ironyOkay, you have one ore chance; eaning women had

one ore chance to get it right. I dont think I slept for the entire rehearsal period;

and when the show got a standing ovation, I thought just maybe I had a career in

this business.

The pressure did ultiately inuence her work. I started deliberately choosing

ale-doinated bad boy plays to directto get away fro being pegged as

sensitive. Early reviewswhich Ive since stopped readingkept talking about

y feinine touch. And while gender politics have certainly iproved in the 30+years since Hartford, as recently as the early 90swhen she was given the reins of

CENTERSTAGEthe coparisons to predecessor Stan Wojewodski gave her pause.

One New York paper described Stan as a dry director and e as a oist one. I

kid you not. But these days, having oved on fro directing plays with exclusively

ale thees, I choose works with a ixture of styles and eotions: funny, sad,

violenteven usicalsas long as theyre sart. I gravitate to the harder issues

and questions affecting both genders.

So does her personal experience with gender bias no longer inuence her as

a director? Being a woan infors y work, but doesnt dene it, she says

condently. As a respected artist and the long-tenured leader of one of Aericas

leading regional theaters, that ay be as post-gender as anyone needs to be.

Barbara Watson, Director of Audience Developent

AWOmANDIRECTOR

Irene Lewis,

Artistic Director

Next Stage: Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |


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Eha McSweeDirector

Lee SavageScenic Designer

Murell HrCostue Designer

Rber WierzelLighting Designer

Rb Milbur & Michael BdeeSound Designers

J. Alle SuddehFight Choreographer

Karma CampChoreographer

Gavi WiProduction Draaturg

Gar LgaVoice & Text

Jae FserCasting Director

SettinG:The living roo of a house on thecapus of a sall New England college.

The hours before dawn. Autun, 1962.

Act i: Fun and Gaesintermission

Act ii:Walpurgisnachtintermission

Act iii:The Exorcis

ContEntSAmerica,1962 4

AlbeesAlbee 6

Fun&Games 8

TheCriticsHowl 10

Glossary 12

Bibliography&FurtherReading 13

the CEntERStAGE Prgramis published b:

CENTERSTAGEAssociates700NorthCalvertStreetBaltimore,Maryland21202

EdirHeatherC.Jackson

Criburs HeatherC.Jackson,DrewLichtenberg,KathrynVanWinkle,BarbaraWatson,GavinWitt

Ar Direci/DesigBillGeenen

DesigJasonGembicki

Adverisig [email protected]

ContACt InFoRMAtIonBx office Phe 410.332.0033Bx office Fax [email protected]

In CASE oF EMERGEnCy(duringperformancesonly)410.986.4080

the cASt(inorderofappearance)Adrew Weems*

George

Debrah Hedwall*martha

Erik Heger*Nick

Leah Cure*Honey

Laura Smih*Stage manager

Mike Schleifer*Assistant Stage manager

*meber of Actors Equity Association

Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?ByEdwardAlbeeTheHeadTheater

oc 22nv 30, 2008

Sponsored by Associate Production Sponsor

CENTERSTAGEisfundedbyanoperatingrantfromtheMarylandStateArtsCouncil,anagencydedicatedtocultivatingavibrantculturalcommuniwheretheartsthrive.

the Next Stage Resurce Guideis spsred b



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TheoriginalproductionofWhos Afraid

of Virginia Woolf?openedinOctober,

1962.JohnF.Kennedyhadjustbecome

PresidentoftheUnitedStatesin1961,

replacingDwightD.Eisenhowerinan

electionhailedasthepassingofatorch

toanewgeneration.Butforallthe

clarionappealofthatclaim,theworld

inhabitedbyAlbeescharactersthe

worldofashelteredNewEngland

collegewasatleastoutwardlylittle

distinguishablefromtheEisenhower

Americathatprecededit.Onlyafter

assassinations,riots,astymied

interventionabroad,andupheavals

inracialjusticeandpopular

culturewouldthatworldnally

giveway.Albeesground-shaking,

groundbreakingplayprovidesanearly

salvointhattransformation.

AmericAWorld NeWsCuban Embargo begins,followed shortly after by theCuban Missile Crisis

East German government buildsa Wall around West Berlin

Uganda and Tanganyika gainindependence

President Kennedy commitsUS forces to vanquishingCommunism in Vietnam

Vatican II begins in Rome

3,000 soldiers suppress riotswhen the rst Black studentattends University of Mississippi

Bus boycott in Macon, Georgia

Black churches burn acrossthe South



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1962PoPularCulture

Marilyn Monroe dies of a drugoverdose at 36

New Pop Art pieces by RoyLichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg,and Andy Warhol

John Steinbeck wins Nobel Prizefor Literature

Ken Kesey publishes One Flew Over theCuckoos Nest

Popular songs:Days of Wine and Roses,

Stubborn Kind of Fellow,Blowin in the Wind

The Beatles and The Rolling Stonesmake their debuts; Robert Zimmermanbecomes Bob Dylan

Martha (Reeves) and the Vandellasdebuts in Detroit, part of the growingMotown sound

Bishop Burke bans Chubby CheckersThe Twist as impure; the next day,17,000 fans attend a Twist Party inSan Francisco

Becketts Happy Days has Londonpremiere

West Side Storywins Best PictureAcademy Award; soundtrack albumbegins 54 weeks at Number 1

Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opensin New York

sCieNCe& teChNology

Thalidomide discovered to causebirth defects

John Glenn orbits the moon, puttingthe US back ahead in the space raceafter the Soviet success with Sputnik

Venus probe, Mariner 2, launched

Rachel Carson publishes SilentSpring, highlighting the perils ofDDT and other pesticides



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In1958,havingspentthepastdecaderatheraimlessly

inpursuitofdirection,EdwardAlbeegavehimselfanunusual30th-birthdaypresent:hewroteThe Zoo Story.Ayearlater,itpremieredinGermanyandbythesecondweekof1960thedaringshortplayopened,alongwithBeckettsKrapps Last Tape,inGreenwichVillage.Nearly600performanceslater,Albeewaslaunchedasanewdarlingofthealternativetheaterscene.Forthenextyear,afairlydizzyingstreamofworks

pouredforthincludingTheDeath of Bessie Smith, TheSandbox, Fam and Yam,andThe American Dream.Then,in1962,AlbeemadetheleapfromtheFringetotheBoulevard,whenWhos Afraidof Virginia Woolf?openedattheBillyRoseTheateronBroadway.

WiththealmostliteralexplosionofVirginia Woolfontothescene,thetrajectoryofAlbeeslifeunderwentanenormoustransformationatransformationpartlymatchedbytheeffectoftheplayonAmericanplaywriting

Ab AbBy Gavin Witt, Production Draaturg

thatfollowed.Inthespaceofonlyafewyears,Albeewentfromdead-endjobsandcold-wateratstoaManhattanloftandaMontaukretreat,fromdowntowncoffee-househaranguestobeingthetoastofinternationalcapitals.Yet,forallthemetaphoricdistancetraveledinthismostAmerican,HoratioAlger-likeofrises,Albeewasinsomewaysmerelyreturningtothesphereofhisyouth.Aspherehehadstruggledwithandultimatelyedoncebefore.

Thedetailsofthisfascinatingbiography,whichresonate

tantalizinglyagainstrecurringnarrativesandthemesinplayafterplayofhis,areasmuchpartofthectionalfabricofAlbeestheatricaluniverseastheyarefoundedonactualevents.Theearlyexperiencesthatshapedhimwereceive,atleastinpart,asaconstructofAlbeesownretellingonewhichhetypicallyresistslinkingtotheplays.Perhaps,then,itisbesttolethimtellitinhisowninimitablefashion,astheperceivedexperiencemaycarryagreater(ormoreinformative)truththanmeredocumentaryfact.



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In1961,onthecuspofunveilingVirginia Woolf,AlbeechattedwithThe New YorkersLillianRoss,duringwhichinterviewheofferedalivelyversionofhisstory-so-far.

BorninWashington,DC,onMarch12,1928,andcametoNewYorkwhenIwastwoweeksold.Ihavenoideawhomynaturalparentswere,althoughImsuremyfatherwasntaPresident,oranythinglikethat.Iwasadoptedbymyfather,ReedA.Albee,whoworkedforhisfather,EdwardFranklinAlbee[forwhomEdwardwasnamed],whostartedachainoftheaters

withB.F.KeithandthensoldouttoR.K.O.Mymotherisaremarkablewoman.Anexcellenthorsewoman.IwasridingfromthetimeIwasabletowalk.MyparentshadastableofhorsesinLarchmontorScarsdaleoroneofthoseplaces.[They]gavemeagoodhomeandagoodeducation,noneofwhichIappreciated.IattendedRyeCountryDaySchooluntilIwaseleven,andthenLawrenceville[boardingschool],whereIgotthrownoutforrefusingtogotoclasses.[I]nsteadofgoinghomeIwassenttoValleyForgeMilitaryAcademyValleyForgeConcentrationCamp.Ihadtheusualroutineofdiscipline,institutionalfood,anddrearylivingquarters.[A]fterayearIwenttoChoate,anditwasmarvelous.IwentontoTrinityCollegeforayearandahalf,[but]didnthaveenoughinteresttostickitoutIwouldntgotochapel,andIwouldnt

gotooneofthemathcourses.Afterayearandahalf,thecollegesuggestedthatInotcomeback,whichwasnewithme.

Igotmyrstjobwritingcontinuityforthemusicprograms[atradiostationWNYC].Afterthat,Ihadanawfullotofjobs:40-dollar-a-weekofceboy;salesman[at]Bloomingdales;luncheonettecountermanattheManhattanTowersHotel;[and]IwasaWesternUnionmessengerforthreeyears,alloverthecity.Ilikedit.ItwasntajobthattiredyououtwithmentalworkandImetallsortsofinterestingpeople.In1949,Ihadcomeintoaverysmallincome[actuallythethen-comfortableannualsumof$3,500]fromatrustfundsetupbymygrandmother.[Ihad]triedtowriteanovel.Thenovel

wasawful.Ihadwrittenalotofpoetry.Then,inthespringof1958,whenIhit30,akindofexplosiontookplaceinmylife.Idbeendrifting,andIgotfedupwithmyself.IdecidedtowriteaplayandIquitwork.IwroteThe Zoo Storyonawobblytableinthekitcheninthreeweeks.

Thissketchofapastleadingsomewhatimprobablytothesudden,nearlyovernightsensationhasbecomethebirth-mythforAlbeetheAuthor.Byselectivefocusandomissionitcreatesanarrativeascraftedasanyversioninhisworkand

someofthesignicantelementsitomitsactuallyappearmoreeshed-outintheplays,whichovertimehaveservedinplaceofajournalorautobiography.SomeofthesedistinctiveelementsincludeAlbeesveryearlydiscovery(aroundagesix)thathehadbeenabandonedbyhisbirthparentsandadopted;theparadeofeccentricshowbusinesstypeswhoaccompaniedsocietyxturesinhisearlylife;andthelayersofprivilegeandexpectationsurroundinghimasthedesignatedheiroftheancientAlbeefamilyincludinghisbriefengagementtoadebutante.

Mostnotablytheaccountglancesoverthewell-chartedterrainofhisadoptiveparents:hismother,FrancesknownasFrankiestatuesque,commanding,domineering,apowerfulpersonality;hisfather,Reed,diminutive,retiring,demureandsomewhatprecious,withaglass(ifnotoriouslyroving)eyeandahabitofjinglingthechangeinhispocketsbeforesidlingintoaroom.Theportraitmostoftenpaintedofthemisofafamilywholavishedattentionandopportunityontheirsonwithoutactualaffectionorwarmth,inmuchthesamemannerthattheycarriedontheirownparallellives,detachedbutneverdivorced.

Albee i his w wrds:

Peoplewouldrathersleeptheirwaythroughlifethanstayawakeforit.

Ideallyaplaywrightcangethisplayfromapageontothestageandbacktotheaudience,ratherlikeplayingtennisagainstabackboard.Butthisveryseldomhappens,becauseyouhavetodealwith

humanbeings.Youhavetodealwithactorsandthedirector.

Idontthinkthatitistheresponsibilityoftheplaywrighttopresentadilemmaandthengiveitssolution.

Subtleandintelligentpeopleplaysubtleandintelligentgames.Everybodyplaysgames.Peopleplaygameswithtruth;theyplaygameswithreality,with

illusionandsinceeverybodydoes,Idontseewhytheyresosurprisedtoseeitturningupin[a]play.



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yetstrangelychildlikegamesthatintensifyincrueltyandsexualcharge,justasAlbeeappearstobeplayingagamewithus,testingandteasingourabilitiesofperception.ThisinternaltheatricalstructureismorereminiscentoftheworkofSamuelBeckettthanthefamilyconictsofdomesticrealism.

Inparticular,AlbeeappearstoevokeWaiting for Godot,aphilosophicalclown-playsetonanalmostbarestageuponwhichtheprotagonistslltheendlessvacuumoftimeand

spacewithaseriesofcomicgagsandgames.Whos Afraid ofVirginia Woolf?alsocallstomindtheworkofEugneIonesco,acontemporaryofBeckettswhospecializedintracingadeepveinofexistentialdreadunderneaththebanalsurfaceutterancesandmaterialistictrappingsofthepettybourgeoisie.InVirginia Woolf,AlbeesrstBroadwayproductionafteranavant-gardeapprenticeship spentwritingone-actsfortheblackboxesofGreenwichVillage,AlbeehituponanewlysyntheticwayofcloakingthemetaphoricalstructuresofcontinentalAbsurdismwithinthevisceralconnesofAmericanNaturalism.Theresultingplayoftenfeelslikeadizzying,physicallyexhaustingbutspirituallyexaltingtennismatchthatshuttles

Fun &Ga:EdwardAlbeesPp AtTatByDrewLichtenberg,AssociateDramaturg

J

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At

rstglance,EdwardAlbeesseminal1962

drama,Whos Afraid of VirginiaWoolf?,tssquarelyinthemiddleoftheAmericannaturalistictradition.AsinEugeneONeillsLong Days JourneyInto Night,AlbeeconnestheactiontoalivingroompopulatedbywealthyNewEnglanderswhoproceedtodrink,shout,andcarryonthroughthenight.(Indeed,dramacriticThomasP.Adler,glancingatONeill,onceinformallyre-titledtheplayLongNightsJourneyIntoDayinareview.)Butappearancescanbedeceptive.IntheworldofWhos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,realitygetslinkedtoitsowndistortedreectioninaseriesofgames,puzzles,andliesinotherwords,theater.Thisindissolublemixtureofrealityandillusionprovidesnotonlytheplayshumoranditsheartbreak,butalsomarksWhos Afraid ofVirginia Woolf?asacornerstoneof20th-centuryAmericanplaywriting,ahybridoftraditionalandnewformsintheserviceofvital,pressingconcerns.

Shortlyaftertheplayopens,welearnthatGeorgeandMartha,aslightlygrayingcouplestagnatinginmarriageandacademia,areawaitingthevisitofahotshotjuniorfacultymember,Nick,andhisslim-hippedwifeHoney.Thesituationisbothintimatelyfamiliarandtantalizinglyambiguous,lacedwiththeconuenceofcharacter,setting,andcircumstancethatdrovesocialdramasoftheperiodandcontinuestodosotoday.Willwe

witnessaromanticquadrille,adanceofdeathinwhichthetwocouplestradepartners;orwillwegetsparringacademicrivals,goosedonbytheirspouses?Perhapswewilllearnofsomelong-buriedsecretthatleadstoacatharticemotionalrevelation?Whateverpromisestounfold,theash-traynaturalismoftheenvironmentanimitationofobjectiverealitydowntothemicroscopiclevelsuggestsanexperienceofimmersiveintensity.Weseemallsettosojournwiththesefourpeopleforanevening,observingtheirbehaviorandsurroundingsinanempirical,almostvoyeuristicmanner.AsinclassicworksbyEugeneONeill,TennesseeWilliams,orArthurMiller,thefactorsofheredityandenvironmentbegintoresemblefate,asthefourcombatantsmoveinexorablywithintheirnaturalisticframetowardaclimacticconfrontation.

Andyet,thefourcharactersalsoresembleplayersinanotherkindofdrama.Albee,whotitleshisrstactFunandGames,structurestheplaywithapeculiartwistonconventionalplotting,thetried-and-truereversalsandrevelationsthatdrivemostnaturalisticplays.Thetwistsandturnsofactionarestillthere,butonecanneverbesureofwhatisreallyhappening,orwhathasjusthappened.Thefourcharacters,particularlyGeorgeandMartha,engageinsteadinaseriesofpotentiallyvicious



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betweentwocarefullyinterwovenworlds:thenaturalisticimitationofrealityanditsabsurdist,theatricalshadow.

Albeecametoartisticmaturityinaperiodinwhichartandlifeappearedtooccupyincreasinglyseparaterealms.WithWesterncivilizationstillcomingtogripswiththephilosophicalandmorallegacyoftheSecondWorldWarincludingthebombingofHiroshimaandthehorrorsofAuschwitzartistsincreasinglysoughtsolaceinthecomfortsofaesthetics.Intheartworld,thetonalextremesofcoolMinimalismandhotAbstractExpressionismsharedasimilaraversiontorepresentation,atraitnotedironicallybyGeorgeasthetwocouplesregardanabstractartworkintheplaysrstact.Meanwhile,Absurdisminthetheaterdisplayed

acorrespondinghesitationtofallbackintotheescapistrhythmsofnarrative,asifdepictingaworldinwhichprogressunfoldedonstagewasunfathomableinthewakeofanapocalypticevent.MuchliketheirprecursorstheDadaistsinresponsetoWorldWarOne,forinstancetheAbsurdistsquestionedTruth,andcreatedarttoreectaworldinwhichmeaningandmoralityhadapparentlyvanished.

Albeesapproach,givenitsfullestexpressioninWhos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,constitutesonepossiblevisionofartisticandmoralprogress,arepurposingofavant-gardecontentwithin

popularformsandviceversa.Suchaformaljuxtapositionbetweentheeverydayandthemetaphysicalwasnotmerelyabreakthroughinplaywriting;itprecipitatedagenerationalshiftinartanditssocialuses.ThoughhemaytechnicallybelongtotheeraofEisenhowerandMcCarthy,AlbeeisatheartaBabyBoomer,andthis,oneofhisgreatestplays,containsthegloriousrangeofcontradictionsthatwoulddenethedecadetocome.Bycourageouslycollapsingthehighandlow,AlbeehelpedtousherthePostmoderneraontotheBroadwaystagemuchinthewayAndyWarholwouldmakeartoutofmass-producediconsandmusiciansfromMotownto

Dylanwouldturnpopmusicintoasophisticatedrealmofgenerationalprotest.LikehissimilarlymindedcontemporaryHaroldPinterWhosAfraid of Virginia Woolf?isperhapsascloseasAmericandramacomestotheComedyofMenaceAlbeeisamasterpoetoftheabsurdlyreal.AndinWhos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,heallowsasettingasfamiliarlydomesticasaCampbellssoupcantoaccumulateapotentialdread,existentialuncertainty,andinternalizedabstractionasprovocativeasanyempty,post-apocalypticlandscape.

1950La Cantatrice chauveopensatatinytheaterinParis,introducingtheabsurdistanti-playsofEugneIonescoandhelpinglaunchanewavant-gardeinthetheater.By1958,whentheplayarrivesinNewYorkasThe Bald Soprano,Ionescossatiricalgesturehadbecomede rigueurforwriterslikeJeanGenetandSamuelBeckett.

1953BeckettsEn attendant GodotpremieresatPariss

Thtre Babylone,underthedirectionofRogerBlin.In1956,Waiting for GodotpremieresinAmerica.

1959Albeesrstplay,TheZoo Story,opensinWestBerlin.ItpremieresinAmericathefollowingyearattheProvincetownPlayhouseunderthedirectionofAlanSchneider,partofadoublebillwithaBeckettone-act,Krapps Last Tape.

1961EugneIonescosabsurdistsatire,Rhinoceros,opensattheLongacreTheaterinNewYorkCity,inaproductionstarringZeroMostelandEliWallach.

1961The Blacks,byJeanGenet,opensatSt.MarksPlayhouseafterpremieringinParisin1959.Runningfor1,408performances,thisNewYorkproductionwouldbecomethelongest-runningOff-Broadwaynon-musicalofthedecade,withanoriginalcastincludingMayaAngelou,LouisGossett,Jr.,JamesEarlJones,andCicelyTyson.

1961AlanSchneiderdirectstheworldpremiereofBeckettsHappy DaysattheCherryLaneTheatreintheWestVillage.

1962Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,underthedirectionofSchneider,opensonOctober10thattheBillyRoseTheaterinManhattan.Theproduction,producedforanunheard-of$42,000(lessthanhalftheamountthenspentonatypicalBroadwayshow)runsfor664performances.

1964Dutchman,ametaphoricalone-actintheAlbee/

Beckettmold,premieresattheCherryLaneTheatre,eventuallywinninganObieforBestPlay.ItisthelastplaywrittenunderthenameofLeRoiJonesbeforetheauthorchangeshisnametoAmiriBaraka.

1966TomStoppardsRosencrantz& Guildenstern AreDead,aclassicisttakeontheAbsurd,opensattheEdinburghFringeFestivalbeforetransferringtoLondonsOldVicTheatre.

1966MikeNicholssrstfeaturelm,anadaptationofWhos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? starringElizabethTaylorandRichardBurtonasMarthaandGeorge,openstoconsiderablecontroversyoveritsobscenecontent.Nicholssnextlm,1967sThe Graduate,helpstolaunchthecounterculturalrevolutionofHollywoodlmmaking.

1988MikeNicholsreturnstothetheatertodirectaproductionofWaiting for GodotatLincolnCenter,starringRobinWilliamsandSteveMartin.BillIrwinarguablystealstheshow,though,asLuckyandthengoesontoplayGeorgeinthehighlyregarded2005revivalofVirginia WoolfonBroadway.

michael Jean Dozier and Howard W. Overshownin Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead(2007-08).



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Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?opened at Broadways Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962.

Reactions were ixed.

By Kathryn Van Winkle, The Micheal and Debbie Nagle Dramaturgy Fellow

On the one hand:

Fit for dirty-minded females onlyVirginia Woolfis mere sensationalism. Ladies, you may have atit. Whoop, holler, squeal, yip, shriek, and gasp deliciously to thecontent of your dear little hearts. Albee, I fear you are a goner.

John Chapman, New York Daily NewsA sick play about sick people. They are

neurotic, cruel, and nasty. They really belong in a sanitarium forthe mentally ill rather than on a stage. [A] sordid and cynical dipinto depravity.We do not enjoy watching the wings being torn

from human ies. Robert Coleman, New York MirrorOne of themost bitter plays ever penneda monstrous and clever charade

a foul and puerile nightmare. Richard A. DupreyAn exemplary failure. Richard Gilman, TheCommonwealI thought it was a lthy play. W.D. Maxwell,

Pulitzer Prize advisory boardA loquacious, vulgar mishmash.John McCarten, The New YorkerSelf-pity, drooling,

womb-seeking weaknesspersistent escape into morbidfantasy.Albee makes dishonesty a virtue, perversion a joke,

adultery a simple party game.a ludicrous playmorbidity andsexual perversity [that] are there only to titillate an impotent

and homosexual theatre and audiencean ineluctable urge toescape reality and its concomitant responsibilities by crawlingback into the womb, or bathroom, or bothlikely to have

an infective and corrosive inuence on our theatre. RichardSchechner, Tulane Drama ReviewAs cruel a play as Iremember. In writing of the play I am altogether unableto conceal my dislike. J.C. Trewin, The Illustrated London News

Albeeis currentlywriting a two-act play that seems unlikely eve

The criTicshowl



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O or ad:

Brilliantly original work of artanexcoriating theatrical experience, surging with shocks ofrecognition and dramatic re. It will be igniting Broadway for

some time to come. Mel Gussow, NewsweekThis play didnothing less than reinvent the American theater. Matthew C.Roudan Harrowing dramatic power Mr.

Albee has written a terrifying thingperhaps the negative playto end all negative plays, yet also a curiously compassionate

playand an exhilarating oneand even a wryly afrmativeone because of the ghting spirit of the principals, whosebehavior breathes the re of protest along with the stench of

corruption. John Gassner,EducationalTheatre Journal

A work of energy and distinction.Walter Kerr, NewYork Herald TribuneA night of psychological

carnage[but] a night of electric entertainment.Tom Prideaux, Life A wry and electric evening

in the theater.A palpable hit.Whether theyadmire or detest the play, theatergoers cannot see it and shrugit off. They burn with an urge to approve or differ.They hail the plays electricity and condemn it as obscene.

The public is aroused. Wonderful.A volcanic eruption.This is the way to dispel Broadway ennui.

Howard Taubman, The New York Times

appear on a midtown marquee. Its title is Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?TImE magazine, February 2, 1961

Next Stage: Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | 11


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Ad he Wes, ecumbered b cripplig alliaces, adburdeed wih a mrali rigid accmmdaeiself he swig f eves, museveuallfall.George reads fro Geran historian Oswald Spenglers

1918 treatise The Decline of the West, which located odern

European history as the third and nal phase of an inevitablearch towards doo.

Buried i ceme, righ up ur eck Perhaps areference to Winnie in Becketts enigatic Happy Days,

successfully preiered under the direction of Alan Schneider

in New York in 1961.

Chrmsmes Nicks eld of study leads George to iaginea pseudo-Nazi future of genetic engineering and eugenics

harnessed to create a aster race, with frequent intiations

of an Aryan bermenschthough the iplications of Nicks

work ight also hint at the perils of any totalitarian utopia.

more prosaically, in 1955 a Japanese scientist had deterinedthe nuber (46) of huan chroosoes, and in 1961 the

relationship of RNA and DNA had been identied.

Dies Irae (Latin) fro the mass for the Dead; day of wrath.

Dla thmas [- quali] Welsh poet popular in the Fortiesand Fifties. Well-known as a heavy drinker, Thoas died of

alcohol poisoning in 1953 on a reading tour of the U.S.

Flores; ores para los muertos. Flores. (Spanish) Flowers;owers for the dead. Flowers. Quoted fro Tennessee

WilliasA Streetcar Named Desire.

Gmrrah Biblical city destroyed by divine re, along with

Sodo, for its legendary wickedness.

Grea Experime/Prhibii Period between 1920 and1933 when the 18th Aendent ade liquor production, sale,

or consuption illegal in the United States (producing a host

of unintended corollary consequences as a result, fro the

culture of appers and speakeasies to the rise of gangland

bosses like Al Capone).

Ice fr he lamps f Chia A (soewhat dated) play on thetitle of a once-popular novel and its l adaptation, Oil for the

Lamps of China (1935), in which a young oil executive ultiately

fails to navigate the pitfalls of Chinas Nationalist Revolution of

the Twenties.

Illria City on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea; hoe ofa contentious people, the city was destroyed by Roe during

the Punic Wars; also faous as the setting for Shakespeares

Twelfth Night, a ore likely reference point here.

Jus a gigl martha sings a snatch of the Tin Pan Alleystandard, based on a Viennese original, that rst becae

popular in 1931 as sung by Bing Crosby, then appeared in a l

of the sae nae (and eventually went on to further life sung

by the likes of marlene Dietrich, Louis Pria, the Village People,

and David Lee Roth).

Lad Chaerle Title character of D.H. Lawrences eroticnovel Lady Chatterleys Lover(1928). She is an aristocrat who

has a rousing, arousing affair with her groundskeeper.

M is up/dw George and martha debate the lunar

cycles in a oent that echoes Kate and Petruchios disputeabout the sun and the oon in Taming of the Shrew.

new Carhage Albees ctional New England college towntakes its nae fro the North African city and great rival to

Roe, which eventually succubed to internal conicts and

was sacked by the Roans around 150 B.C.; in Virgils epic

Aeneid, the dooed love of Dido and Aeneas takes place

in Carthage.

nbds huseb w Another snatch of old Tin PanAlley martha adapts to the occasion, referencing the 1924 hit

Nobodys Sweetheart fro the usical of the sae nae.

Parassus In Greek ythology, a ountain whose twinsuits were devoted to Apollo and the muses; consideredto be the seat of poetry and usic. Used ironically of the

faculty party.

Pegui Islad Fro a satirical treatent of French historyby Anatol France (LIle de Pingouins, 1908); an island

proselytized by a near-blind French onk who baptizes the

islands inhabitants without realizing that they are all penguins.

The ctional society eventually destroys itself when capitalis

runs aok.

Puic Wars (see als new Carhage) A joke by Georgeabout his age, by which he refers (historian that he is) to

the series of wars between Carthage, iperial power of themediterranean in the Second and Third Centuries B.C., and the

rising Roan republic. The Punic Wars (fro the Latin nae for

Carthage, forerly known as Phoenicia) ended the doinance

of North African Carthage and established Roe as the

preeinent power of the age.

Sacre du Printemps French title of Igor Stravinsky ballet,The Rite of Spring (1913). Its draatic, often violent, and

asyetrical rhyths; polytonic dissonance; and erotic

evocation of pagan ritual were choreographed to shocking

effect by Vaslav Nijinsky, provoking a riot at its Paris preiere.

Walpurgisach The title of Act 2 coes fro the Geranword for may Day celebrations, a witches Sabbath celebratedthroughout uch of Europe in one for or another (naed for

Saint Walpurga but tied to ancient pagan rites); a long night

of orgiastic celebration during which evil spirits are exorcised

fro cities and towns through topsy-turvy revelry and pranks.

Wha a dump Probably the single, or at any rate the ost,recognized and reebered line fro the noir l, Beyond

the Forest(1949)uttered by Bette Davis as quite the trashy,

trapy sall-town fee fatale.

Glossary



13/13

BiBlioGraphy

& Further readinG

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material in our Next Stage resource guide is ade available free of charge for

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the property of CENTERSTAGE, and no copies or reproductions of this aterial

should be ade for further distribution, other than for educational purposes,

without express perission fro the authors and CENTERSTAGE.

Albee, Edward. The American Dream and Zoo Story.

Two of the plays that started all the fuss, both about Albees career and about Aerican absurdis.

Albee, Edward.A Delicate Balance.

The doestic draa that followed Virginia Woolfand won Albee his rst Pulitzer Prize.

Gussow, mel. Edward Albee: A Singular Journey. New York: 1999.In this dignied, candid biography, Gussowveteran critic and long-tie acquaintance of the playwright

links Albees life to his plays, and his plays to the life of the Aerican theater.

Kolin, Philip C., ed. Conversations with Edward Albee. Jackson, mississippi: 1988.

This copilation of interviews covers 1961 to 1986, and allows a fascinating glipse of the change

in Albees perspectives on his work and ties.

Kolin, Philip C. and J. madison Davis, eds. Critical Essays on Edward Albee. Boston: 1986.

A stellar collection of reviews and criticis; they offer a wide range of opinion while situating

Albee within world and U.S. theater traditions and conteporary thought.

mcCarthy, mary. The Groves of Academe. New York: 1952.

The gold standard; the classic satire of capus life, published a decade before the preiere of Virginia Woolf,

brilliantly evokes and skewers the sall-town, sall-college world of Albees characters.

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Who's Afraid Playbill

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