Edward Albee | |
|---|---|
 Albee in 1975 | |
| Born | Edward Franklin Albee III March 12, 1928 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died | September 16, 2016 (aged 88) Montauk, New York, U.S. |
| Education | Trinity College |
| Period | 1958–2016 |
| Notable works | |
| Notable awards | |
| Partner | Jonathan Thomas (esp. 1971; died 2005) |
Edward Franklin Albee III (/ˈɔːlbiː/ 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 the Theater of the Absurd.[1] 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 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).
- ^ Norwich, John Julius (1990). Oxford Illustrated Encyclopedia Of The Arts. USA: Oxford University Press. pp. 10. ISBN 978-0198691372.