Author: Edward Albee
Profile: Edward Albee was a well known American playwright. Right from childhood, Edward Albee dreamt about becoming a writer. Initially he began writing novel and poetry which are not known to readership. Later he began writing one-act plays. The superb one-act play, The Zoo Story was first written by him in 1958. The play is about how an innocent stranger is persuaded by a psychopathic homosexual to kill him. Edward Albee is popular for his book ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ which talks about a fairy tale about the Big Bad Wolf. There isn’t much connection between Albee’s play and the real Virginia Woolf, besides the link with her own bout of bipolar disorder and her surname.
Albee’s book, The Sandbox is a one-act short play in which typically absurd elements are used for proving the author’s point that humans are consumed by life and death, a message which is brought across in the most simplistic manner.
Writing style: The self-absorbed survival of each of the characters is revealed by the author Edward Albee in each of the plays, thus his characters are added with disjointed quality, which adds to the understanding a family that functions individually and is typically dysfunctional. Misapprehension of the nature of humans is dispelled by the author. The theme is that people are a responsibility and a product of their society. The circle of life is also a theme in the novel. Parents are responsible for their children and children in turn become responsible for their parents.
Published Texts:
Who’ Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
The Zoo Story
The Sandbox & The Death of Bessie Smith
The American Dream
He is known well for his unsympathetic and well-crafted examinations of the condition in modern day times.
The Lady from Dubuque
Fam and Yam
The Ballad of the Sad Café
Tiny Alice
A Delicate Balance
Everything in the Garden
All Over
Seascape
Me, Myself & I
Awards and Acknowledgements:
1964 – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1963 original Broadway cast)
1980 – American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Medal for Drama
1994 – Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Play
1994 – Obie Award for Lifetime Achievement
1994 1975, 1967 – Pulitzer Prize for Drama
1995 – St. Louis Literary Award
1996 – Kennedy Centre Honors
2001 – Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Revival
2002 – Tony Award for Best Play
2002 – Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play
2002, 1994, 1963 – New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play
2005 – Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement
2008 – Drama Desk Special Award
2010 – Evelyn F. Burkey Award
2010 – The Helen Hayes Tribute, sponsored by Jaylee Mead