Bozeman Actors Theatre and the MSU Department of English present a staged reading of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Edward Albee, considered the foremost American playwright of his generation, died in September at the age of 88. Inheriting the torch of American drama from the likes of Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, Albee’s plays left an unforgettable imprint on the American theatrical landscape. His psychologically astute and piercing dramas explore the contentiousness of intimacy, the gap between self-delusion and truth and the undercurrent of desperation beneath the facade of contemporary life. Mr. Albee’s Broadway debut, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” the famously debauched portrait of a disintegrating marriage, won a Tony Award in 1963 for best play and enthralled theatergoers with its depiction of a couple still desperately in love, but whose relationship has been corroded by dashed hopes, wounding recriminations and drink.
Some critics were appalled: “A sick play for sick people,” The Daily Mirror declared. But others were mesmerized and dazzled. A jury awarded it the Pulitzer Prize, but the Pulitzer advisory board rejected the recommendation, choosing not to give an award for drama that year; the jurors resigned in protest. In the years since, the play has grown to become a classic of modern drama and been revived on Broadway three times, most recently in 2012 with Tracy Letts and Amy Morton as George and Martha. Albee wrote, he said, with a sense of responsibility; “All plays, if they’re any good, are constructed as correctives,” he said in 2004. “That’s the job of the writer. Holding that mirror up to people. We’re not merely decorative, pleasant and safe.”
Bozeman Actors Theatre and the MSU Department of English present a staged reading of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”, featuring Gordon Carpenter, Steven Harris-Weiel, Susan Miller and Cara Wilder, Friday and Saturday, November 4th and 5th at 7pm at MSU’s Black Box Theatre, located on the corner of 11th and Grant streets on the MSU campus. Admission is free for students, with a $10 suggested donation at the door for all others. Seating is not reserved, and parking is free in the MSU lots adjacent to the theater. Please call Bozeman Actors Theatre at (406)580-0374 for more information.
