originally published: 11/27/2023

(TEANECK, NJ) -- In association with The Estate of Edward Albee, the Black Box presents 2000's The Play About The Baby on December 6, 2023 as the next monthly staged reading in Edward Albee: From A To Zoo, An Exclusive Stage Reading Series of Edward Albee's Plays.

Rarely performed, The Play About The Baby is actually an "encore" of sorts for The Black Box, which produced its NJ Premiere last Winter. Hysterically funny yet mysterious and poignant, The Play About The Baby features a young couple and the absurdist interruption when a strange man and woman appear.

The performance -- featuring Mike Gardiner, Danielle MacMath, Ilana Schimmel, and J Niles (as directed by Matt Okin) -- will take place on Wednesday, December 6th at 7:30pm at Debonair Music Hall, 1409 Queen Anne Road b/w State Street and Walraven Drive in Teaneck, New Jersey. Debonair is adjacent to ample free street and lot parking, and the venue offers accessible ground floor entry.

The monthly performance will once again be followed by a conversation with the cast, director, and Jakob Holder, Executive Director of The Edward F. Albee Foundation and Mr. Albee's longest serving assistant. General admission seating is FREE yet limited for each evening in this series. House opens approximately 7pm.

Reservations are strongly requested at www.blackboxpac.com

In the piece's few original incarnations, circa 1999 and 2000, critics raved:

“An invaluable self-portrait of sorts from one of the few genuinely great living American dramatists…BABY rockets into that special corner of theater heaven where words shoot off like fireworks into dazzling patterns and hues.” — NY Times

“A frequently funny and ultimately devastating battle of wills, which is unquestionably the main event of the Off-Broadway season…Albee’s play is revealed here to be among his very finest.” — Variety

From the masterworks to the rarely seen, this curated monthly series began in May with The Sandbox (1959) and The American Dream (1960), and has continued with Finding The Sun (1983) and Marriage Play (1983) in June, The Man Who Had Three Arms (1983) in July, Malcolm (1966) in August, and Counting the Ways (1976) and Listening (1976) in September. Coming up is The Lady From Dubuquq on November 15 and The Play About The Baby on December 13 (produced by The Black Box in its area premiere last Winter).

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 Woolfe? (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), At Home at The Zoo: (Act 1, Homelife. Act 2, The Zoo Story) (2004), and Me, Myself & I (2008). Mr. 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.

Since Fall 2021, The Black Box has incubated new and under-produced plays by world-class artists such as Eric Bogosian, Paul Schrader, Beth Henley, Craig Lucas, Neil Labute, Daniel Handler, Ken Levine, and most recently John Patrick Shanley. Collaborations are now underway with The Estates of Sam Shepard and IB Singer as well as with artists including Craig Carnelia, Migdalia Cruz, John Lahr, Ishmael Reed, Halley Feiffer, and Billy Martin.