It’s been almost 60 years since the original premiere of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” but its social commentary and biting insight into human nature remain painfully relevant.
Metropolitan State University of Denver’s faculty experts will help break down the play’s meaning Thursday in a panel discussion followed by the Denver Center for Performing Arts’ performance of the 1960s masterpiece. All students and faculty and staff members who RSVP to Thursday’s panel will receive free tickets to the show following the discussion. The event is hosted by the University’s Denver Project for Humanistic Inquiry (D-phi) to help bridge the gap between classroom and stage.
“The humanities are rooted in the belief that the interpretation of great works of art can result in a richer understanding of ourselves and our world,” said Adam Graves, Ph.D., Philosophy professor at MSU Denver and director of D-phi. “Given that our University is nestled in the heart of a great American city, D-phi has sought to connect our students with the great cultural and artistic institutions that surround us.”
The DCPA is one of the largest nonprofit theatre organizations in the nation, and after seven years of nurturing a relationship with the center, D-phi has become its go-to resource for supplying expert-led discussions. Faculty members from the Departments of History, English, Chicana/o Studies, Philosophy and Theatre have hosted discussions for nearly a dozen DCPA productions.
Helping to cultivate a deeper understanding of self through Thursday’s performance will be panelist Rebecca Gorman O’Neill, professor and chair of MSU Denver’s English Department.
“(In this play) Albee is exploring the illusion that is polite society,” said Gorman O’Neill. “Everything from ‘women should want to be mothers’ to ‘guests should be made to feel welcome.’ Every character in this play holds up a façade, a mask, which is either gleefully or painfully removed over the course of the story.”
While many traditional roles such as housewife and breadwinner have evolved since the show’s creation in the 1960s, the pressures to put on a façade remain ever-present.
“This play takes those conventional expectations and destabilizes them, taking the other characters and the audience into a new, unfamiliar, uncomfortable space,” said O’Neill. “In a world where we often think, ‘This isn’t how things should be,’ the play reflects our tensions and uncertainties in the microcosm of a small gathering of two couples. This play makes the audience uncomfortable. And feeling this discomfort in a communal space can be cathartic.”
Thursday’s panelists include:
- Samuel Wood, actor and director, DCPA
- Rebecca Gorman O’Neill, professor and chair, English
- Adam Graves, Ph.D., director of D-phi and professor of Philosophy
- Cristina Bejan, Ph.D., affiliate professor of History
- Tish Richard, professor of History
Panel
5:30 p.m.
1101 13th St., Studio 1 on the third floor
Performance
7 p.m.
DCPA, Singleton Theatre
To dive deeper into the show’s analysis and receive free DCPA tickets, email [email protected] to RSVP for the panel discussion. Visit D-phi for more event details.