Albee Directs 'Sandbox' & 'American Dream' at Cherry Lane, with Ivey

The Cherry Lane announces the return of two historic one-acts as part of the company's annual Heritage Series: Edward Albee's The American Dream (first produced at CLT in 1961 by Richard Barr and Clinton Wilder) and The Sandbox (first produced at CLT in 1962 in a collaboration between producers Richard Barr, Clinton Wilder and playwright Edward Albee).

Both plays will star two-time Tony- and Drama Desk Award-winner Judith Ivey, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, and Obie Award winner Myra Carter, and Drama Desk Award-winner George Bartenieff.  The evening will be directed by the playwright himself, the legendary Edward Albee. This production will coincide with the occasion of Albee's 80th birthday on March 12.

"In The Sandbox, written in 1959, Albee introduces one of America's most dysfunctional families, a grasping, materialistic married couple who stage a perverse seaside idyll destined to end in the demise of the wife's aged mother. In this pioneering work, Albee manipulates clichés of language and social mores, breaking the fourth wall and purposefully destroying the audience's illusion of passive observation of the action of the play," explain press notes, "The American Dream, written in 1960, continues the story of The Sandbox's Mommy and Daddy. It is a ferocious, uproarious attack on the substitution of artificial for real values, a startling tale of murder and morality that rocks middle-class ethics to their complacent foundations. In it, Albee explores the hollowness of the American dream, as well as the fallacy of the ideal American family."

The cast includes: George Bartenieff as Daddy, Kathleen Butler as Mrs. Barker, Myra Carter as Grandma, Judith Ivey as Mommy, Harmon Walsh as the American Dream, and Jesse Williams as the Angel of Death (in The Sandbox).

Performances begin previews March 11, open March 25 and close April 19. The schedule is Tuesdays at 7PM, Wednesdays at 2PM & 8PM, Thursdays and Fridays at 8PM, Saturdays at 2PM & 8PM.

Individual Tickets are $60, Student Advance $20, Student Rush $10 (at the box office 1/2 hour before all performances) and can be purchased by calling Telecharge.com at 212-239-6200.

Discussions with Edward Albee will take place following the March 18 and April 8 performances, giving audience members the once-in-a-lifetime experience of a dialogue with one of America's most venerated theatrical voices.  For more information please visit www.cherrylanetheatre.org. 

Edward Albee (photo by Carol Rosegg)

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