Edward Albee's A DELICATE BALANCE Now On Sale At Island City Stage

Tickets are selling fast for Island City Stage's milestone production of Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize-winning play A Delicate Balance. In response to popular demand, an additional show has been added on Wednesday, February 5 at 7:30 p.m.

The show runs through February 9. This ambitious creative endeavor featuring highly acclaimed regional actors marks the first time Island City Stage has produced a show penned by America's greatest playwright of the last half of the 20th century.

During its sold-out opening weekend, critics had praise for the show's exceptional cast. This riveting revival of A Delicate Balance, directed by Michael Leeds, stars Carbonell and regional award-winning actors Patti Gardner (Agnes), Tom Wahl (Tobias), Betty Ann Hunt Strain (Claire), Margery Lowe (Edna), Christopher Dreeson (Harry) and Sabrina Lynn Gore (Julia).

“Patti Gardner is a true marvel in the role of Agnes which she executes so naturally in that upper-crust accent reminiscent of 1940s screen stars. All those lines! And she never misses a beat,” wrote Mindy Leaf, South Florida Theater reviewer.

“Superb cast and direction triumph in Island City's complex, challenging A Delicate Balance,” writes Bill Hirschman, Florida Theater On Stage critic. “This Olympian cast, invisible precise direction by Michael Leeds, elegant set and matchless character-underscoring costumes make this one of the highlights of this and likely any other season.”

“Director Michael Leeds' deft pacing belies the play's hulking length, and the casting of Gardner and Wahl is his most formidable coup. These actors are simply perfect together, with Wahl delivering the production's most harrowing monologue—involving an alley cat he adopted, only to be denied its love—and its most tortured revelation, late in the third act,” shared John Thomason, Boca magazine reviewer.

Family secrets, friendship and loyalties drive the heart of A Delicate Balance. In Albee's three-act play, audiences are introduced to Agnes and Tobias, a wealthy, middle-aged couple whose complacency is shattered when unexpected friends Harry and Edna disrupt their household with unfounded anxiety. Add-in Agnes' witty, yet alcoholic, sister Claire with her quick quips and their troubled daughter Julia's return home and a pressure cooker of drama and dysfunction ensues.

A Delicate Balance premiered in 1966 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1967, the first of three Albee received for his work (the others being Seascape (1975), and Three Tall Women (1994)). The Master American Dramatist also received a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement (2005), the gold medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1980); as well as the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts (both in 1996), among many other prestigious theatre and literary awards.

The original Broadway production of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance starred Hume Cronyn as Tobias, Jessica Tandy as Agnes, Rosemary Murphy as Claire, Henderson Forsythe as Harry, Carmen Mathews as Edna, and Marian Seldes as Julia. It has been staged several times since, in the U.S. and abroad, with notable stars of stage and screen including Dame Maggie Smith, Glenn Close, Imelda Staunton, Clare Higgins, Bob Balaban, Martha Plimpton and John Lithgow. In 1996, a revival production starring Rosemary Harris, George Grizzard, John Carter, Elizabeth Wilson, Elaine Stritch and Mary Beth Hurt won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, as well as Tony Awards for acting and directing, and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play.

A Delicate Balance is co-produced by FAB (Funding Arts Broward) and Jeffrey Danielson. Lights and Sound Sponsor is Scott Bennett, Set Sponsor is Glenn Goldberg and Costumes Sponsor are Arthur and Fran Greenberg. Additional funding is provided by the following: The Our Fund Foundation, The Schubert Foundation Inc., the SHS Foundation, The Maval Foundation, the Warten Foundation, OutClique and the Broward County Board of County Commissioners as recommended by the Broward Cultural Council.

Island City Stage kicked off its 2024-25 season of powerful storytelling focusing on the nature of families with sold out performances of The Fantasticks. Upcoming shows include Fat Ham by James Ijames from April 3 – May 4, 2025; The Dying Gaul by Craig Lucas from May 22 – June 15, 2025 and At The Wedding by Bryna Turner from August 21 – September 21, 2025.

Individual show tickets start at $43. A special Women's Night sponsored by Leslie Fine will take place on January 31. The show runs for two hours and 40 minutes with two intermissions.

Island City Stage will also be offering two Flexpass options this season. The Flexpass5 ($215) offers five tickets that can be used all for one show or one for every show (no processing fees) and $5 off additional tickets purchased ($52 upfront savings). The Flexpass3 ($130) offers three tickets that can be used all for one show or one for every show (no processing fees) and $5 off additional tickets purchased ($33 upfront savings). Discounts are available for groups.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.islandcitystage.org, call (954) 928-9800 or email boxoffice@islandcitystage.org.

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