Edward Albee

The Zoo Story

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Me, Myself, and I

Edward Albee:

Vice: How did you feel about the onslaught of upscale residences that started here in the 1980s?

Are you a millionaire?

I’d like to get a better idea of what your life is like. What time did you wake up this morning?

Do you have a routine?

New York Times

Every morning?

What was the most interesting story in today’s paper?

How old are you?

So, coffee, diabetes test, the New York Times…

That’s very bland.

Do you think much about food?

Right.

Which Japanese restaurant?

Did you go by yourself?

So you’re fairly social?

What have you thought about today aside from Alzheimer’s, corn muffins, and coffee?

Did I?

Me, Myself, and I

I read an interview with you online where you, at the end, told the interviewer that you hadn’t talked about the three most important things playwrights like to talk about, which is sex, money, and food. And that’s why I asked if you’re a millionaire and what you eat. We haven’t talked about sex yet, but we’ll get to it.

Do you get much of it these days?

laughs

Are you dating anybody?

But you haven’t.

laughs

What would you say if I asked you for some dating advice?

What kind of music do you listen to?

Do you have music playing when you’re writing?

What drew you to start the Edward F. Albee Foundation, the organization you have that helps young artists?

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

How do you choose the artists?

I think so. But not everybody thinks that way.

It’s said that you were a miscreant as a child. You didn’t follow your parents’ rules and you got involved in bad behavior…

Yes, I did. Have you ever thought about adopting kids yourself?

Your residency program is like short-term adoption. You take people in, you give them housing.

So you would never consider being a dad?

But you don’t write for 24 hours a day.

I read your play The Sandbox this morning, before I biked over here.

Do you make mistakes?

The Sandbox

You wrote it for your grandmother, right?

You had a good relationship with your grandmother?

Did you ever try to find your birth parents?

Who are some other people you’ve liked, some mentors?

Where would you run away to, and what was your plan?

How old were you the first time you ran away?

Wow. And you were in Larchmont, New York?

laughs

Who do you consider your family?

She drowned in her swimming pool?

Did this happen under your watch?

Do you want to be the last one standing?

How old were you when you knew that you were going to die?

Would you ever consider a remake of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? on film?

When you were 30, you wrote your first play, The Zoo Story. What got you to that point? What was the epiphany?

You don’t remember a specific moment?

Do you have a specific writing space?

That’s pretty old school.

And the internet?

Do you have a cell phone?

But it could be Bach on their headphones.

never

Do you ride a bicycle?

So you’re constantly eavesdropping.

Is there a particular kind of person you like to look at?