Editor's Note

By Jim O’Quinn

It was 1966, I was 18 years old, and my new hero was a far-off, far-out playwright named Edward Albee. My infatuation had begun on a high school graduation trip to New York City the year before, when I witnessed John Gielgud’s soaring performance in Tiny Alice on Broadway. Now there was a way to share my discovery with hometown friends in southwest Louisiana—a controversial movie we had to drive to Lake Charles, 25 miles away, to see: Mike Nichols’s coruscating, savagely funny version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? We decided in our late-night talks about Truth and Beauty and Art that Albee’s arrival was a wake-up call that meant our convictions about the nature of reality were suddenly inadequate. We went to see Virginia Woolf again and again, adopted Martha’s outbursts (“I hope that was an empty bottle, George!”) and Honey’s expletives (“Violence! Violence!”) as catch-phrases and resolved to keep a watchful eye out for Albee-esque contradiction and mystery in our all-too-everyday lives. Who knew where this Albee-mania would lead?

For me it led back to New York City, where I could keep tabs on all things Albee: I got chills in 1980 when Irene Worth descended the stairs in The Lady from Dubuque, on one of those few memorable nights that it played on Broadway; I discovered some 15 years later how Three Tall Women vibrated in one key with Myra Carter in the central role and in another when Marian Seldes took over. Today I have more Albee performances under my belt than I can account for—and each one has added unexpected new dimensions to those long-ago adolescent speculations on the nature of reality. What a pleasure to have worked with Carol Rocamora on this issue’s exclusive interview with Albee, in a year that will mark both his 80th birthday and the arrival of a spate of new plays and productions sure to intrigue Albee addicts everywhere.

Beyond the Albee spread, you won’t want to miss “Ready, Set, Act,” in this oversized January issue’s special section devoted to actor training. Let me also call your attention to a the arrival of a new American Theatre feature called Strategies, a regular back-of-the-book column devoted to practical initiatives in the field—how you and your colleagues are dealing creatively with such undertakings as theatre finance, marketing, fundraising, education, audience development, governance, architecture and artistry. Staff writer Eliza Bent’s inaugural column spotlights the efforts of the National New Play Network to solve the problem of “premiereitis” and ensure the continued life of new plays after their initial productions. You’re invited to suggest topics of your own for a Strategies column.

A final note: American Theatre’s roving critics Randy Gener and Eliza Bent cast an evaluative eye in these pages on the current performance scenes in Sweden and Iceland. Gener’s double-barreled essay is extensive: In addition to a perceptive profile of leading Swedish dramatist Lars Norén, he surveys a wide range of work at the recent Swedish Theatre Biennial in Örebro. Why such detailed coverage of theatre in Scandinavia? Because you’re not likely to encounter it anywhere else—and we believe that sharing information across international borders is crucial to artistic and cultural development both in the U.S. and abroad.