The Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" continues his penetrating exploration of family relationships in this powerful, poetic drama. In a large, elegant sitting room, a famous man lies dying behind a discreet hospital screen. Reporters and television crews are waiting downstairs to record the event for posterity, while gathered in the "death chamber" are the great man’s wife, mistress, son, daughter, and best friend – the family lawyer. A beautifully orchestrated play, full of reminiscences and dreams, in which the characters interact within a defined ritual society has forced them to play.
Reader Reviews
Albee's 1971 meditation on death is a challenging work. It takes a delicate balance to bring the poetry of the text to life and to enrich the characters on stage without getting lost in the static nature of the unfolding drama. In a very quiet way, this play has as many barbs as "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" but contains only a fraction of the humor that is in "Virginia Woolf". The subject of death runs through every thread of the play and presents variations on the theme through the characters and their identities and conflicts.
This 1976 television production (originally staged for the theatre by the Hartford Stage Company and taped for Connecticut Public Television) suffers from an overall stiffness in the acting ensemble and an unfortunate restraint in the approach that works against sustaining interest for the viewer but there are good performances. Myra Carter as the Mistress and Anne Lynn as the Daughter are two tall Albee women to be reckoned with.Since it is unlikely that this play will appear on DVD again (unless a Broadway revival were to revive interest), this is a disc worth collecting if for no other reason than to enjoy Edward Albee's fascinating dialogue and to retain a production of this play.
