His works are often considered as frank examinations of the modern condition. His early works reflect a mastery and Americanization of the Theatre of the Absurd that found its peak in works by European playwrights such as Samuel Beckett, Eugène Ionesco, and Jean Genet. His middle period comprised plays that explored the psychology of maturing, marriage, and sexual relationships.
"He invented a new language — the first authentically new voice in theater since Tennessee Williams,” said playwright Terrence McNally about Albee.
“A play, at its very best, is an act of aggression against the status quo,” Albee told a group of aspiring teen-aged playwrights in San Diego in 1989.
“Too many people get constricted by social norms, miss out by not living a full life,” Albee told the students gathered there. “The important thing is to be yourself absolutely. When I die, I would like to realize I haven't missed out on too much.”
“We don't need an attack on the conscious. We need an attack on the unconscious,” Albee told the New York Times in 1971. “[President] Nixon and the ghettos are particular horrors that have come about because people are so closed down about themselves. …Why does everyone want to go to sleep when the only thing left is to stay awake?”
The purpose of this SDG is to get into Albee’s head, and see how he developed from the beginning to the end. We will read and analyze 14 of his plays, good and not as good- sometimes discussing flaws in a work is more stimulating and rewarding ...he believed good theater is like a mirror making the audience face themselves in it.