Albee and Turner In Conversation At Westport 6/23

Westport Country Playhouse and Westport Arts Center will co-present two award-winning legends - playwright Edward Albee and film and theatre actor Kathleen Turner in "Artists in Conversation," a casual, intimate talk between two theatre professionals who also happen to be good friends, on Monday, June 23, 8 p.m., at the Playhouse.

How has the world of the theatre changed?  What does the future hold for theatre, playwrights and actors who appear on stage?  How did Albee approach writing "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and how did Ms. Turner approach her role as Martha in the classic?  How well do plays transfer to film and vice versa? These are some of the topics that will be covered, followed by a Q&A with the audience.

Edward Albee was born on March 12, 1928, and began writing plays 30 years later. His plays include "The Zoo Story" (1958), "The Death of Bessie Smith" (1959), "The Sandbox" (1959), "The American Dream" (1960), "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1961-62, Tony Award), "Tiny Alice" (1964), "A Delicate Balance" (1966, Pulitzer Prize; 1996, Tony Award), "All Over" (1971), "Seascape" (1974, Pulitzer Prize), "Listening" (1975), "Counting the Ways" (1975), "The Lady from Dubuque" (1977-78), "The Man Who Had Three Arms" (1981), "Finding the Sun (1982), "Marriage Play" (1986-87), "Three Tall Women" (1991, Pulitzer Prize), "Fragments" (1993), "The Play about the Baby" (1997), "The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?" (2000, 2002 Tony Award), "Occupant" (2001), "Peter and Jerry: (Act 1, Homelife. Act 2, The Zoo Story.)" (2004) and "Me, Myself and I" (2007).

Albee is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council and President of The Edward F. Albee Foundation.  Albee was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980.  In 1996 he received the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts.  In 2005, he was awarded a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Veteran actor Kathleen Turner has garnered critical acclaim for her performances in a wide variety of film and theatre. Turner was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in "Body Heat."  She won a Golden Globe Award for her performances in "Romancing the Stone" and "Prizzi's Honor."  Her work in "Peggy Sue Got Married" brought her both an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe nomination, and she earned yet another Golden Globe nomination for "War of the Roses."  Turner's extensive film credits also include the critically acclaimed "The Virgin Suicides" directed by Sofia Coppola; "The Man with Two Brains" with Steve Martin; "Jewel of the Nile" with Michael Douglas; "Crimes of Passion"; "The Accidental Tourist"; "V.I. Warshawski"; John Water's "Serial Mom"; "Naked in New York"; and "Moonlight and Valentino."  It is impossible to forget Turner's standout performance as the sultry voice of Jessica Rabbit in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?"

In addition to her thriving film career, Turner frequently returns to live theater. Turner received rave reviews on Broadway playing Martha in the revival of Edward Albee's modern classic "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"  In the fall of 2000, Turner broke box-office records starring in the stage version of the classic film "The Graduate" in London's West End, playing the role of Mrs. Robinson.  In 2002 she took "The Graduate" to Broadway.  In 1998, she made her British stage debut at the Chichester Festival Theater, which was founded by Sir Laurence Olivier.  Recently, she worked with Michael Lessac who directed Turner as Tallulah Bankhead in Sandra Ryan Heyward's one-woman show "Tallulah," which she toured in across the U.S.

Turner starred on Broadway in Jean Cocteau's "Indiscretions." Other stage works include her portrayal of Maggie the Cat in the 1989 Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," Broadway's production of "Gemini," and "Camille" at the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven.  Turner also starred in "Travesties," "The Seagull," "Toyer and "A Midsummer's Night Dream" at Arena Stage in Washington D.C.  Turner is a Missouri native, but was raised in Canada, Cuba and England where her father was a diplomat.

Media sponsor for "Artists in Conversation" is WSHU.

Celebrating its 78th season, the venerable Westport Country Playhouse (Joanne Woodward and Anne Keefe, Artistic Directors; Jodi Schoenbrun Carter, Managing Director) is creating innovative new works and dynamic revivals. The Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway including "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth; "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish; "Butterflies Are Free" with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner; "Absurd Person Singular" with Sandy Dennis, Geraldine Page and Tony Roberts; and "Our Town" with Paul Newman.  The list of actors, directors, and other theatre artists who have worked and continue to perform on the Playhouse's legendary stage reads like a "Who's Who" of the American theatre.  Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, the Playhouse now produces year-round, welcoming 85,000 audience members annually. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, the Playhouse presents educational programming and workshops; a children's theatre series; symposiums; music; films; and readings of short fiction, classical works and new plays.  Westport Country Playhouse serves as a treasured home for the theatrical arts, its audiences and its artists.  For the State of Connecticut, it is a true cultural landmark. Your experience begins at www.westportplayhouse.org.

The Westport Arts Center is a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating arts experiences that contribute to individual growth and enrich the community. The Westport Arts Center is supported with funds from The Artur and Heida Hermanns Holde Foundation, Inc., Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, National Endowment for the Arts, Connecticut Light & Power, Fairfield County Bank, Gault, Inc., Main Street Resources, U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management, and Westport Resources.

Tickets to "Artists in Conversation" are $30, $25, $20.  For more information, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Information about the Playhouse is also available at www.westportplayhouse.org.

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