Editing Edward Albee (section)

==Career==
[[File:Edward Albee.jpg|upright|thumb|left|160px|Edward Albee, photographed by [[Carl Van Vechten]], 1961]]
===1959–1966: The Early Plays===
Albee moved into New York's [[Greenwich Village]],<ref name="Playbill-obit" /> where he supported himself with odd jobs while learning to write plays.<ref name="CBC-obit">{{cite news|last1=Kennedy|first1=Mark|title=Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? playwright Edward Albee dead at 88|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/edward-albee-obit-1.3767000|agency=Associated Press|date=September 16, 2016|access-date=September 17, 2016}}</ref> His roommate in New York was the composer [[William Flanagan (composer)|William Flanagan]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whosafraidofedwa00fost/page/12/mode/2up|page=12|title=Who's Afraid of Edward Albee?|year=1978|last=Hirsch|first= Foster|publisher=Creative Arts Book Co.|isbn=978-0-916870-12-6 }}</ref> Primarily in his early plays, Albee's work had various characters that challenged the image of a heterosexual marriage.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Who's Who IN LESBIAN & GAY WRITING|last=Griffin|first=Gabriele|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|isbn=0-415-15984-9|location=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinlesbian0000grif/page/2 2–3]|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinlesbian0000grif/page/2}}</ref> Despite challenging society's views about the gay community, he did not view himself as an LGBT advocate.<ref name=":1" /> Albee's work typically criticized the [[American Dream]].<ref name=":1" /> His first play, ''The Zoo Story'', written in three weeks,<ref>[http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/albee.html Reuben, Paul P. "Chapter 8: Edward Albee."] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120716185246/http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/chap8/albee.html |date=July 16, 2012 }}, ''Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide''. Retrieved June 28, 2007</ref> was first staged in [[Berlin]] in 1959 before premiering Off-Broadway in 1960.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://www.provincetownplayhouse.com/plays1960s.html |title=Plays Produced in the Provincetown Playhouse in 1960s Chronological |work=[[Provincetown Playhouse]] |access-date=September 2, 2012}}</ref> His next, ''The Death of Bessie Smith'', similarly premiered in Berlin before arriving in New York.<ref>Albee, Edward.[https://archive.org/details/americandreamdea00edwa "The Death of Bessie Smith"]''The American Dream; The Death of Bessie Smith; Fam and Yam: Three Plays''. Dramatists Play Service, Inc., 1962, {{ISBN|0-8222-0030-9}}, pp.46-48</ref>

Albee's most iconic play, ''[[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?]]'', opened on Broadway at 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 (Canadian actor)|Arthur Hill]], [[George Grizzard]] and [[Melinda Dillon]].<ref>[http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/2773/Whos-Afraid-of-Virginia-Woolf "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"], ''Playbill Vault''. Retrieved December 15, 2015.</ref> 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 a drama award at all.<ref>{{cite news|title=US playwright Edward Albee dies aged 88|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-37394714|access-date=September 19, 2016|work=BBC News|date=September 17, 2016}}</ref> The two members of the jury, [[John Mason Brown]] and [[John Gassner]], subsequently resigned in protest.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kihss|first1=Peter|title=Albee Wins Pulitzer Prize; Malamud Novel is Chosen|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/08/15/specials/albee-pulitzer2.html|access-date=September 19, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 2, 1967}}</ref> An [[Academy Award]]-winning [[Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film)|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]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://edwardalbeesociety.org/biography/|title=Biography &#124; Edward Albee Society|website=Edwardalbeesociety.org|access-date=November 21, 2023}}</ref> In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="2013Add">{{cite press release|title=Library of Congress announces 2013 National Film Registry selections |newspaper=The Washington Post|date=December 18, 2013|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/movies/library-of-congress-announces-2013-national-film-registry-selections/2013/12/17/eba98bce-6737-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref>

=== 1971–1987: The Middle Plays ===
[[File:Edward Albee by Reginald Gray.jpg|thumb|upright|160px|Edward Albee by Irish artist [[Reginald Gray (artist)|Reginald Gray]] (''The New York Times'', 1966), inspired by a photograph taken in 1962 from [[Bettmann Archive|Bettmann]]/[[Branded Entertainment Network|Corbis]].]]
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 (play)|Seascape]]'').<ref> [1] Gussow, Mel. Edward Albee: A Singular Journey, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999, p. 282.  {{ISBN|0-684-80278-3}}</ref> The play premiered on [[Broadway (theatre)|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 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."<ref>Barnes, Clive. [https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/08/15/specials/albee-allover.html?_r=1 "Stage: 'All Over,' Albee's Drama of Death, Arrives"] ''The New York Times'', March 29, 1971</ref>

In 1974 he wrote ''[[Seascape (play)|Seascape]]'', which won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Drama]]. It debuted on Broadway with [[Deborah Kerr]] and [[Frank Langella]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://playbill.com/production/seascape-shubert-theatre-vault-0000010471|title= Seascape (Broadway, 1975)|website= Playbill|accessdate= February 11, 2024}}</ref> It was nominated for the [[Tony Award for Best Play]] losing to [[Peter Shaffer]]'s ''[[Equus (play)|Equus]]''.<ref name="auto1">{{cite web |url=https://www.tonyawards.com/nominees/year/1975/category/any/show/any/ |title=1975 Tony Awards Nominees |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=[[American Theatre Wing]] |access-date=August 11, 2023}}</ref> 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 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]].<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1975/01/27/archives/albees-seascape-is-a-major-event.html|title= Albee's 'Seascape' Is a Major Event|work= The New York Times|date= January 27, 1975|accessdate= February 11, 2024|last1= Barnes|first1= Clive}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://v.playbill.com/person/edward-albee-vault-0000018564|title= Edward Albee (Director)|website= Playbill|accessdate= February 11, 2024}}</ref> He wrote the three act play ''[[The Man Who Had Three Arms]]'' (1983) which 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."<ref>Rich, Frank. [https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/08/15/specials/albee-arms.html "Stage: Drama by Albee, 'Man Who Had 3 Arms'"] ''The New York Times'', April 6, 1983, {{ISSN|0362-4331}}, p. C15</ref>

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 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".<ref name="auto">{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2001/may/10/theatre.artsfeatures1|title= Edward Albee's mismatched partners|website= The Guardian|date= May 9, 2001|accessdate= February 11, 2024|last1= Billington|first1= Michael}}</ref> 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".<ref name="auto"/>

=== 1991–2016: The Later Plays ===
In 1991 he wrote 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://playbill.com/production/three-tall-women-john-golden-theatre-2017-2018|title= Three Tall Women (Broadway, 2018)|website= Playbill|accessdate= February 11, 2024}}</ref> 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 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".<ref>{{cite magazine|url= https://ew.com/theater/2018/03/29/three-tall-women-review/|title= After 30 years, Glenda Jackson is back on Broadway in Three Tall Women: EW review|magazine= [[Entertainment Weekly]]|accessdate= February 11, 2024}}</ref>

[[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 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.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/edward-albee/overview-the-theater-of-edward-albee/A5804573603B72A5AE74264BD6E6C887/core-reader|chapter=Overview: The Theater of Edward Albee|last=Roudané|first=Matthew|date=August 2017|title=Edward Albee: A Critical Introduction|pages=8–16|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139034845|language=en|access-date=March 20, 2020}}</ref>

According to ''The New York Times'', Albee was "widely considered to be the foremost American playwright of his generation."<ref>{{cite news|title=Edward Albee, Trenchant Playwright Who Laid Bare Modern Life, Dies at 88|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/17/arts/edward-albee-playwright-of-a-desperate-generation-dies-at-88.html|access-date=December 16, 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 17, 2016}}</ref> The less-than-diligent student later dedicated much of his time to promoting American university theatre. He served as 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]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dramatists.com/index.asp |title=Dramatists Play Service |publisher=Dramatists.com |access-date=May 21, 2012}}</ref> and [[Samuel French, Inc.]]