Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? A Play

George, a disillusioned academic, and Martha, his caustic wife, have just come home from a faculty party. When a handsome young professor and his mousy wife stop by for a nightcap, an innocent night of fun and games quickly turns dark and dangerous. Long-buried resentment and rage are unleashed as George and Martha turn their rapier-sharp wits against each other, using their guests as pawns in their verbal sparring. By night's end, the secrets of both couples are uncovered and the lies they cling to are exposed. Considered by many to be Albee's masterpiece,Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?is a "brilliantly original work of art -- an excoriating theatrical experience, surging with shocks of recognition and dramatic fire" (Newsweek).

Edward Albee is one of a handful of our country's most important living playwrights. He has won numerous awards, including three Pulitzer Prizes (A Delicate Balance, Seascape, and Three Tall Women) and three Tony Awards (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, A Delicate Balance, and The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?). In 1996 he received a Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award and was presented with the National Medal of Arts by President Clinton.

At the Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony, Albee was praised for his impact on American drama: "Albee's plays, with their intensity, their grappling with modern themes, and their experiments in form, startled critics and audiences alike while changing the landscape of American drama."