Dear scholar, artist, critic, student, or fan of American theatre and drama,

I am writing to invite you to join The Edward Albee Society, a new nonprofit, 501C3 organization, incorporated in June 2013, whose mission is to promote the study of the life and works of Edward Albee, and the drama and theatre for which his work was in large part the instigator and model. As we approach the one-year anniversary of the birth of the Edward Albee Society we would like to tell you what we have been up to and encourage you to join us in promoting the works and legacy of one of the great American playwrights.

It has been an exciting few months since our incorporation, and we’re gearing up for many more events over the next several months. We have just added Emily Mann, John Guare, and Angelina Fiordellisi to our board of honorary of directors, and we hope to add more soon. Please contact luminaries you might know and have them contact me if they would like to serve in this capacity.

Below are just a few of our upcoming activities – please join us!

The Edward Albee Society at Conferences

The Edward Albee Society is hosting two inaugural panels this spring. Our first panel, which features two international scholars in addition to one American scholar, is on Albee’s Global Influence and will be presented at the Comparative Drama Conference in Baltimore, MD, in April 2014. Our second panel, on influences on/of Albee, will be presented at the American Literature Association’s annual meeting in Washington DC, in May 2014. The Society will also convene our first general business meeting at ALA.

The Society plans to sponsor at least one panel at each of these conferences annually, with plans to expand to the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) in 2016.

The Edward Albee Review

With the approval of the Board of Directors of The Edward Albee Society, the Editor of The Edward Albee Review (Michael Y. Bennett) has signed an initial five-volume contract with Rodopi to publish The Edward Albee Review on an annual basis, starting with the first volume to be published in 2016. The Edward Albee Review is an annual peer-reviewed journal meant to provide an outlet for scholarship and criticism on, or related to, Edward Albee and his works. Volumes will feature original, academic articles and reviews (i.e., book reviews and review-essays) centered around a special topic.

Visit our Journal page for more information on The Edward Albee Review.

Editor of The Edward Albee Review:
Michael Y. Bennett (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)

Advisory Board:
Linda Ben-Zvi (Tel Aviv University)
Natka Bianchini (Loyola University Maryland)
Stephen Bottoms (University of Manchester)
John M. Clum (Duke University)
David A. Crespy (University of Missouri)
Norma Jenckes (University of Cincinnati)
Philip Kolin (University of Southern Mississippi)
Lincoln Konkle (The College of New Jersey)
Brenda Murphy (University of Connecticut)
Matthew Roudané (Georgia State University)

Upcoming Volumes:
Volume #1 – “Albee and Absurdism” (2016)
Volume #2 – “Edward Albee and Sexuality/Gender” (2017)
Volume #3 – “Edward Albee as a Theatrical and Dramatic Innovator” (2018)
Volume #4 – “Edward Albee’s Influence on American Drama”
Volume #5 – “Edward Albee’s Own Influences”

The purposes of the Albee Society are the exploration of Albee’s life and works by means of historical and critical writing, artistic performances on stage, film, television, radio and recordings, by the amassing of historical documentation, and by publications and conference presentations devoted to Albee and his plays. The subjects of study shall include not only Albee and his works, but all aspects of the American and World Theatre he has affected by his own work in theatre as a playwright, director and producer. Furthermore the Albee Society will support efforts that affirm the notion of drama as literature, and encourage projects that support new dramatic work by new playwrights, as an extension of Edward Albee’s own Playwrights Unit, which he founded in 1963 with his producing partners Richard Barr and Clinton Wilder. We are affiliated with New York City’s Cherry Lane Theatre under the artistic direction of Angelina Fiordellisi.

Please consider joining and making a donation to the Edward Albee Society today! Annual membership dues are $30. Lifetime memberships are $300. (Dues and donations are tax deductible to the extent provided by law.) Your dues and donations will help us pay for designing and registering our website, our journal, The Edward Albee Review, as well as other organizational costs. Members receive a substantial discount to the annual Albee Review. Members who provide us with their e-mail address will be kept up to date on Albee-related publications, performances, and events around the country.

Visit our Membership page for a membership form and additional information

Also, please pass this news along to your colleagues and any family or friends who are fans of Albee so that we may build our membership! And if you know any major theatre artists or producers or other luminaries whom you think might assist us in funding, please let me know!

Our elected officers are:

President & Treasurer: David Crespy
Professor of Theatre
University of Missouri

Vice President: Natka Bianchini
Assistant Professor of Theatre
Loyola University Maryland

Secretary: Ashley Gallagher
Teacher, Lawton C. Johnson Summit Middle School
and Theatre Studies M.A. Candidate, Montclair State University

Website Editor: Lincoln Konkle
Professor of English
The College of New Jersey

Editor of The Edward Albee Review: Michael Y. Bennett
Assistant Professor of English
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

International Secretary: Valentine Vasak
Ph.D. Candidate, Université Paris Sorbonne

Our Board of Directors consist of Brenda Murphy, Lincoln Konkle, Ashley Gallagher, Michael Bennett, and David Crespy.

Thanks again,

Dr. David A. Crespy
President, Edward Albee Society
Department of Theatre
University of Missouri