1. WHO’S AFRAID OF EDWARD ALBEE? BY. DYLAN LOSSIAH The systematic dichotomy rife within Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” congealed about the American society of the 1960s like a bustling tempest of flavorful language and overall angst askance the menagerie of leering argument, so consistent with the world at the time of the play’s inception. Masterful digressions between man and wife, a somewhat tabooed or, at the very least, a much censored part of American society during this time of history, are ever present within Albee’s modern classic.

2. BY. EDWARD ALBEE

3. First Production: October 13, 1962 In New York City, Billy Rose Theatre Directed by: Alan Schneider FOR THE PRE- READING

4. EDWARD ALBEE The man behind the pen

5. THE COLD WAR ERA THE NUCLEAR FAMILY CONSTANT BI- NATIONAL DIGRESSIONS, SUBTERFUGE, AND ARROGANCE

6. A DIFFERENT VIEW ATTACKS TRADITIONAL VALUES AND REVEALS THE TRUTH, AT TIMES HUMOROUSLY, BUT MOSTLY IN A DARKER, MORE INTENSE LIGHT

7. THE LIVING ROOM OF A HOUSE ON THE CAMPUS OF A SMALL NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE. THE SETTING (Probably one like this)

8. DRAMATIS PERSONAE (the characters, Nikki)

9. MARTHA A large, boisterous woman, 52, looking somewhat younger. Ample, but not fleshy. Her father is the president of the university. Drinks a bit.

10. GEORGE Her husband, 46. Thin; hair going gray History Dept.

11. HONEY 26, a petite blond girl, rather plain. Slim hipped, according to Martha. Can’t hold her drink.

12. NICK 30, her husband. Blond, well put-together, good-looking. Bright, successful, received his masters degree at 19, now a professor in the bio dept.. New addition to the BIOLOGY department

13. THE SUBTLE (AND NOT SO SUBTLE) BATTLE OF WITS.

14. ATTACK ON THE COLD WAR A nonsensical rambling with hidden meaning, snark, and misunderstanding. Maybe this could be used for more than one political squabble throughout the ages. The secrets, hidden aspersions on the character of one another’s ideology. All concepts embellished during the cold war era.

15. ACT 1 The “little bugger” Deep-rooted, abrasive language and subtle insults George’s Freudian slips/forgetfulness George’s ambition, or lack-there-of

16. ACT 2 Corruption of the younger couple. Nick’s ambition Climax of the “games” Martha goes to bed with Nick, Honey refuses to notice. George realizes he must tell Martha their son is dead. Honey’s hysterical pregnancy

17. ACT 3 The madness of the whole situation envelops Nick. Martha turns him into her “Houseboy” George and Martha initiate the last sequence of their game. George reveals their son to be dead. Martha admits to nick that George has been the only man to make her happy.

18. USE OF THE WORD AS A WEAPON The social transgressions culminate within the text of the play itself. Deep inside Albee’s words, a familiar note of tangible discourse and an almost playful hate between the two sides of one argument, Albee sets off a virtual nuclear reaction between the characters. BOOM

19. RICHARD BURTON AND LIV TAYLOR Ernest Lehman’s 1966 production of “Virginia Woolf” is perhaps the most revered of all the attepts at this modern classic. The haunting portrayal of the fatalistic couple is played so well by the pair (who were also married in real life a few times) that it has made “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” virtually come alive.

20. QUOTES “I swear… if you existed I’d divorce you…” “In my mind, Martha, you are buried in cement, right up to your neck (Martha giggles). No… right up to your nose…. That’s much quieter.” “There will be a certain… loss of liberty, I imagine, as a result of this experiment… but diversity will no longer be the goal. Cultures and races will eventually vanish… the ants will take over the world.” “We drink a great deal in this country, and I suspect we’ll be drinking a great deal more, too… if we survive.” “You take the trouble to construct a civilization… to… to build a society, based on the principles of… of principle… you endeavor to make communicable sense out of natural order, morality out of the unnatural disorder of man’s mind… you make government and art, and realize that they are, must be, both the same… you bring things to the saddest of all points… to the point where there is something to lose… then all at once, through all the music, through all the sensible sounds of men building, attempting, comes the Dies Irae. And what is it? What does the trumpet sound? “Up yours”. I suppose there’s justice to it, after all the years… “Up yours”.

21. “AND THAT, AS THEY SAY, IS THAT.” The End