10th Annual
William Inge Theatre Festival
a

Edward Albee

Edward Albee, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, was born March 12, 1928 in Virginia. He began writing plays 30 years later. In 1958, Albee wrote The Zoo Story in three weeks. It premiered on September 28, 1959 in Berlin and four months later played on a double bill with Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Late Tape at the Provincetown Playhouse in Greenwich Village. It won the Vernon Rice Memorial Award in 1960. Also produced in 1960-61 was Fam and Yam, The Death of Bessie Smith, The Sandbox and The American Dream. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opened on Broadway in October, 1962, and ran for 644 performances. It received the New York Drama Critics Circle Award as well as two Tony Awards. In 1966, Warner Brothers released the film of the play which starred Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Albee’s next play was an adaptation of Carson McCuller’s The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (1963). He also adapted Malcolm (1965) from a novel by James Purdy, Everything in the Garden (1967) from a play by Giles Cooper, and Lolita (1979) adapted from the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. Other Albee works include Tiny Alice (1964), A Delicate Balance (1966), Box and Quotations From Mao Tse-Tung (1968), All Over (1971), Seascape (1974), Listening (1975), Counting the Ways (1976), The Lady From Dubuque (1979), The Man Who Had Three Arms (1981), Finding the Sun (1982), and Marriage Play (1987). Albee won the Pulitzer Prize in 1966 for A Delicate Balance and also in 1975 for Seascape. He is a member of the Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, chairman of the Awards Commission of Brandeis University, president of the Edward Albee Foundation and has been a member for the Council of the Dramatists Guild for 24 years. Albee’s two one-act plays, Counting the Ways and The Zoo Story, were performed by the Gypsy Theatre of Kansas City in the Inge Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 25. He participated in "A Conversation With Edward Albee" on Friday, April 26 at 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. in the Inge Theatre and in the seminar "The Playwright/Director Relationship: Should a Playwright Direct His Own Play?" on Friday, April 26 with other festival participants at 10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre. He also participated on the panel discussion "The Playwright and The Theatre Critic" on Saturday, April 27 with other festival participants at 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. in the Lecture Hall. Mr. Albee was presented "The William Inge Award For Lifetime Achievement In the American Theatre" at the "Tribute to Edward Albee" on Saturday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Inge Theatre.

Schedule of Events

The Tenth Annual
William Inge Theatre Festival and Conference
Schedule of Events
April 25, 26, 27, & 28, 1991

THURSDAY, APRIL 25

10:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.--REGISTRATION in the Margaret Goheen Foyer of the William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. FILM FESTIVAL featured "Penn Avenue to Broadway" (documentary on Inge) and other Inge films. Edward Albee’s WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? and A DELICATE BALANCE will be shown. Fine Arts Room 1, Fine Arts Building. FREE

10:00 A.M. - 9:00 P.M.—WILLIAM INGE COLLECTION opened to visitors. College Library, Academic Building.

1:00 P.M. & 3:00 P.M.--Tour of "WILLIAM INGE’S INDEPENDENCE." Met in the Margaret Goheen Foyer, Fine Arts Building. FREE

1:30 P.M. - 2:30 P.M.—Workshop: "PRINCIPLES OF PUBLIC RELATIONS" conducted by Rick Miramontez of the Rick Miramontez Company, Los Angeles. Lecture Hall, Academic Building. Adults $10.00, Students $5.00 (ICC & IHS students free)

2:30 P.M. - 3:30 P.M.--"WILLIAM INGE: HIS YOUNGER YEARS" with Luther Inge, nephew of William Inge and author of Travels in Search of the Past: The Ancestry of William Motter Inge, Playwright. Lecture Hall, Academic Building. FREE

7:30 P.M.—COUNTING THE WAYS and THE ZOO STORY, two one-act plays by Edward Albee performed by The Gypsy Theatre of Kansas City. William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. Adults: $10.00, Students $5.00 (ICC students free). All seats reserved.

FRIDAY, APRIL 26

8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.--REGISTRATION in the Margaret Goheen Foyer of the William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. THE WILLIAM INGE COLLECTION opened to visitors. College Library, Academic Building. FILM FESTIVAL continued in FA1, Fine Arts Building. (Check schedule at Registration Desk) FREE

9:00 A.M - 10:00 A.M.-- "A CONVERSATION WITH EDWARD ALBEE." Mr. Albee discussed contemporary theatre and responded to questions. Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. FREE

10:15 A.M. - 12:00 P.M.—"THE PLAYWRIGHT/DIRECTOR RELATIONSHIP: SHOULD A PLAYWRIGHT DIRECT?" A seminar with Edward Albee, Robert Anderson, Jerome Lawrence, and directors Daniel Mann, Marshall Mason, and George Keathley. Moderated by David LeVine, Executive Director of the Dramatist’s Guild. Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Building. FREE

12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M.—Luncheon with Distinguished Directors. Fireside Room, Student Union. FEE: $5.00

1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.—"DIRECTING WORKSHOP FOR STUDENTS," conducted by John Green, Professor at Pittsburg State University. Featured a performance of the one-act play, Metamorphosis as a basis for the discussion. Music Hall, Fine Arts Bldg. FREE

1:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.—"DIRECTING WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS" with Daniel Mann, noted stage and screen director. Opened to college and community theatre directors and interested adults. Lecture Hall, Academic Building. FEE $10.00

3:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.--Tour of "WILLIAM INGE’S INDEPENDENCE." Met in the Margaret Goheen Foyer, Fine Arts Bldg. FREE

7:00 P.M.--"A GALA DINNER Party" at the Independence Country Club. "Tenth Anniversary Celebration of The William Inge Festival" and the awarding of the 1990 Margo Jones Award and Medal. All seats reserved. $18.00

SATURDAY, APRIL 27

8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.--REGISTRATION in the Margaret Goheen Foyer of the William Inge Theatre, Fine Arts Bldg.

10:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M.--THE WILLIAM INGE COLLECTION opened to visitors. College Library, Academic Building. FILM FESTIVAL continued in Fine Arts Room 1, Fine Arts Building.

9:15 A.M. - 10:15 A.M.— "WRITING FOR PERFORMANCE" with playwright Robert Anderson. Lecture Hall, Academic Building. Adults $10.00, Students $5.00 (ICC & IHS students free)

10:30 A.M - 11:45 A.M.-- Panel Discussion: "THE PLAYWRIGHT AND THE THEATRE CRITIC." Playwrights Edward Albee, Robert Anderson, and Jerome Lawrence joined Richard Coe, Critic Emeritus of The Washington Post, and Dan Sullivan, former theatre critic of The Los Angeles Times. Lecture Hall, Academic Building. Adults $10.00, Students $5.00 (ICC & IHS students free)

12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M.--"HONORS LUNCHEON" members of the Inge family and distinguished festival guests were recognized. Fireside Room, Student Union. FEE: $8.00

1:30 P.M. - 3:00 P.M.—Staged reading of William Inge’s one act play, "THE LOVE DEATH" by actor Ray Stricklyn, followed by a panel discussion entitled "Viewpoints on THE LOVE DEATH" with Laura Chandler, Ralph Voss, Dan Sullivan, Ray Stricklyn, and Colby Kullman, moderator. Lecture Hall, Academic Building. FEE: $10.00 (ICC students free)

2:45 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.--"SCHOLAR’S CONFERENCE" - "The plays and Films of William Inge and His Contemporaries." Conference Director: Dr. Jackson Bryer, The University of Maryland. Lecture Hall, Academic Building. FREE

3:00 P.M. - 4:30 P.M.--Tour of "WILLIAM INGE’S INDEPENDENCE." Met in the Margaret Goheen Foyer, Fine Arts Building. FREE

8:00 P.M.--"TRIBUTE TO EDWARD ALBEE." Excerpts from Mr. Albee’s plays and films, tributes from friends both live and taped, and special appearances by Broadway actors. Presentation of "THE WILLIAM INGE FESTIVAL AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT IN THE AMERICAN THEATRE." William Inge Theatre, $15.00, all seats reserved. (ICC students free)

SUNDAY, APRIL 28

10:00 A.M.—Meeting of the Inge Festival NATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD for brunch at Glencliff Farm.

12:00 P.M. - 2:00 P.M.—REGISTRATION in the Foyer, William Inge Theatre.

12:00 P.M. - 1:00 P.M.— Tour of "WILLIAM INGE’S INDEPENDENCE." Met in the Margaret Goheen Foyer, Fine Arts Building. FREE

1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M.—THE WILLIAM INGE COLLECTION opened to visitors. College Library, Academic Building.

1:30 P.M.—Dedication of "THE MARGARET GOHEEN FOYER," Fine Arts Building.

2:00 P.M.—WILLIAM INGE'S SUMMER BRAVE presented by the Johnson County Community College Theatre Department of Overland Park, Kansas, on the stage of the William Inge Theatre. Directed by Beate Pettigrew.

Festival Participants

1991 Special Guests and Festival Participants

Robert Anderson (Inge Award recipient in 1985) participated in the seminar "The Playwright/Director Relationship: Should a Playwright Direct His Own Play?" on Friday, April 26 with other festival participants at 10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre. He also presented "Writing For Performance" on Saturday, April 27 at 9:15 - 10:15 a.m. in the Lecture Hall and participated on the panel discussion "The Playwright and The Theatre Critic" on Saturday, April 27 with other festival participants at 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. in the Lecture Hall. See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

Wayne Bryan, Producing Director for the Music Theatre of Wichita, was Master of Ceremonies for the "Gala Dinner Party" at the Independence Country Club on Friday, April 26.   See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

Laura Chandler, speech instructor at Independence Community College, wrote an article entitled "An End to this Desperate Struggle, William Inge’s Previously Unpublished Play: The Love Death for Volume 5 of Studies In American Drama, 1945-Present." She participated on a panel discussion "Viewpoints on The Love Death" on Saturday, April 27 at 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. in the Lecture Hall.

Kansas Governor Joan Finney presented the "William Inge Award For Lifetime Achievement in the American Theatre" at the "Tribute to Edward Albee" on Saturday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. in the Inge Theatre.

John Green is a professor in the communication Department at Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kansas. Green, originally from London, first came to P.S.U. in 1985 through a Fulbright exchange where he directs and teaches theatre and television classes. His students performed Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis as he conducted the "Directing Workshop for Students" on Friday, April 26 at 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. in the Music Hall.

George Grizzard played Nick in the original Broadway production of Albee’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? A two-time Tony Award nominee, Grizzard starred as Atticus Finch in the first major American stage production of To Kill A Mockingbird in March of 1991 at the Papermill Playhouse in New Jersey. Grizzard made his Broadway debut in the 1955 drama The Desperate Hours. Among his television work, he won acclaim as John Adams in The Adams Chronicles and as President Jimmy Carter in the cable film Iran. Grizzard took part in the tribute to Edward Albee on Saturday, April 27 in the William Inge Theatre.

Luther Inge, (deceased 1993), nephew of William Inge, is author of Travels in Search of the Past: The Ancestry of William Motter Inge, Playwright. He presented "William Inge: His Younger Years" on Thursday, April 25 at 2:30 - 3:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall.

Johnson County Community College Theatre Department of Overland Park, presented Inge’s play Summer Brave on Sunday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre.

George Keathley participated in the seminar "The Playwright/Director Relationship: Should a Playwright Direct His Own Play?" on Friday, April 26 with other festival participants at 10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre. See updated bio in 1992 - Peter Shaffer.

Shirley Knight, particpated in the tribute to Edward Albee on Saturday, April 27 in the William Inge Theatre. See updated bio in 1996 - August Wilson.

Colby Kullman moderated the panel discussion "Viewpoints on The Love Death" on Saturday, April 27 at 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. in the Lecture Hall. See updated bio in 1993 - Wendy Wasserstein.

Jerome Lawrence (Inge Award recipient in 1983) participated in the seminar "The Playwright/Director Relationship: Should a Playwright Direct His Own Play?" on Friday, April 26 with other festival participants at 10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre. He also participated on the panel discussion "The Playwright and The Theatre Critic" on Saturday, April 27 with other festival participants at 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. in the Lecture Hall. See updated bio in 1996 - Arthur Miller.

David LeVine was the moderator for "The Playwright/Director Relationship: Should a Playwright Direct His Own Play?" on Friday, April 26 at 10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre. See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

Daniel Mann directed the original Broadway production of Come Back, Little Sheba in 1950, the play that launched William Inge’s successful career as a playwright. The play, under Mann’s skillful direction, brought Tony Awards to actress Shirley Booth and actor Sidney Blackmer. In 1952 Mann directed the film version of the play and Shirley Booth won an Oscar for her performance as Lola. Other Broadway successes for Mann were The Rose Tattoo, The Immoralist, and Paint Your Wagon. Born in Brooklyn, NY, Mann is a product of the Professional Children’s School and the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. During World War II, Mann served in the U.S. Infantry Special Services and was stationed in the China-Burma-India Theatre. After the war Mann taught at the American Theatre Wing and the Actors Studio. Then came his stage triumphs of Come Back, Little Sheba and The Rose Tattoo. In addition to directing the movie version of these two plays, Mann also directed I’ll Cry Tomorrow, Butterfield 8 The Last Angry Man, Hot Spell, For The Love Of Ivy, and The Teahouse of the August Moon. His directing credits for television include Actor’s Studio, Silent Night, How the West Was Won, Lost in the Stars, The Day The Loving Stopped, and Playing for Time. He participated in the seminar "The Playwright/Director Relationship: Should a Playwright Direct His Own Play?" on Friday, April 26 with other festival participants at 10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre. He also conducted a "Directing Workshop for Adults" on Friday, April 26 at 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. in the Lecture Hall.

Marshall Mason, founder and director of New York’s Repertory Company, is a native of Texas. Mr. Mason directed two plays by William Inge: Come Back, Little Sheba and his acclaimed all star production of the Pulitzer-prize-winning Picnic with Gregory Harrison, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rue McClanahan, Michael Learned, and Dick Van Patten for Showtime. He has been honored with five Obie Awards for Distinguished Direction. He received his sixth Obie Award for Sustained Achievement with Lanford Wilson, his creative partner for the past 25 years. He participated in the seminar "The Playwright/Director Relationship: Should a Playwright Direct His Own Play?" on Friday, April 26 with other festival participants at 10:15 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre.

Rick Miramontez, in 1987 and 1988 co-directed with the late Wally Cedar a workshop, "Publicizing and Promoting Your Productions." A graduate of California State University, Miramontez was associated with the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles for six seasons. He now manages his own public relations company, The Rick Miramontez Company. He conducted a workshop "Principles of Public Relations" on Thursday, April 25 at 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. in the Lecture Hall.

Beate Pettigrew, directed the Johnson County Community College production of Inge’s play Summer Brave on Sunday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m. in the Inge Theatre.

Ray Stricklyn won the Best Actor award from the L.A. Drama Critics Circle for his performances in Confessions and Williams’ Vieux Carre, as well as numerous other awards. In 1990 he received rave reviews for his performance as Dr. Lyman in William Inge’s Bus Stop at the Pasadena Playhouse. He made his Broadway debut in Moss Hart’s the Climate of Eden with Rosemary Harris, winning an annual Theatre World Award. He starred in Jose Quintero’s noted revival of Truman Capote’s The Grass Harp at Circle-In-The-Square. Film performances include: 10 North Frederick with Gary Cooper; The Plunderers with Jeff Chandler, which netted him Golden Globe Award nominations; and Newsies, a Disney movie musical. Television audiences have seen him in the recurring role of Sen. Pickering on CBS's Wiseguy and NBC's Cheers. He conducted a stage reading of The Love Death on Saturday, April 27 at 1:30 - 3:00 p.m. in Lecture Hall. He also participated on a panel discussion "Viewpoints on The Love Death" on Saturday, April 27 at 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. in the Lecture Hall.

Dan Sullivan participated on the panel discussion "The Playwright and The Theatre Critic" on Saturday, April 27 with other festival participants at 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. in the Lecture Hall. He also participated on a panel discussion "Viewpoints on The Love Death" on Saturday, April 27 at 1:30 p.m. -3:00 p.m. in the Lecture Hall. See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

The Gypsy Theatre is a nonprofit theatre company based in Kansas City, Missouri, at the 8th Street Cafe Theatre. The company is committed to producing off-beat and enduring one-act plays of American writers and have performed works by Tennessee Williams, Sam Shepard, Harold Pinter, George Bernard Shaw, A.R. Gurney, and others. Chuck Gordon who plays Jerry in The Zoo Story, serves as the group’s Artistic Director. They performed Counting The Ways and The Zoo Story on Thursday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the Inge Theatre.

Ralph Voss participated on a panel discussion "Viewpoints on The Love Death" on Saturday, April 27 at 1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. in the Lecture Hall. See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

Mike Wood produced the "Tribute to Edward Albee" on Saturday, April 27 at 7:30p.m. in the Inge Theatre. See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

1990 Margo Jones Award

Richard Coe:
recipient of the 1990 Margo Jones Award
presented at the Independence Country Club
on Friday, April 26

Richard Coe, drama critic emeritus of The Washington Post, joined the Post in 1938 as radio editor and assistant drama critic. After a stint in the U.S. Army Air Corps, he returned to the Post as drama critic and amusements editor, serving in those positions from 1946-1979. He became a critic emeritus in 1979. His work has garnered recognition from the Newspaper Guild of America, the American Theatre Association, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, Howard University, the Catholic University of America, the University of Maryland, and the Community Service League of Washington Theatres. Coe received the Critic of the Year award in 1963 from the Directors’ Guild of America and was named Washingtonian of the Year in 1980. He participated on the panel discussion "The Playwright and The Theatre Critic" on Saturday, April 27 with other festival participants at 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. in the Lecture Hall.

Conference Scholars

1991 Conference Scholars 

Conference Director:
     Jackson R. Bryer Ph.D, presented "The Plays and Films of William Inge and His Contemporaries" on Saturday, April 27 at 3:00 - 4:30 p.m. in the LectureHall. See updated bio in 1998 - Stephen Sondheim.

Respondent:
    Mark W. Estrin, Rhode Island College, Providence.

Scholars:
     Patricia Relph, Fayetteville, Arkansas presented "How Inge Captures Character In Language Style" with Roger Gross.
     Roger Gross, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville presented "How Inge Captures Character In Language Style with Patricia Relph."
     Therese Jones, Ph.D, University of Colorado presented "Difference, Defiance, Despair: The Suicide Plays of William Inge."
     Thomas P. Adler, Ph.D, Purdue University presented "On the Margins: The One-Act Plays of Albee and Inge."
    Jeff Loomis, Ph.D, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville presented "William Inge and Greek Myth."