About the Play:

Occupant is a full-length dramatic comedy by Edward Albee. Unapologetically flamboyant and fearlessly groundbreaking, iconic New York sculptor Louise Nevelson reveals her artistic triumphs and her tumultuous personal struggles in a most unconventional interview. Determined to be seen and heard in a predominantly male-driven medium, she muses on her sordid past in Edward Albee's poignant work about his friend, one of the most singular sculptors of the 20th century.

Occupant examines the life of acclaimed American sculptor Louise Nevelson. Born into a Ukrainian Jewish family, Nevelson's family immigrated to America when she was a young child. With a personality as impressive as her art, was she destined for greatness? What is the relationship between creator and creation? Who was Louise Nevelson? Only she knew. In Occupant, both her public accomplishments and private emotional conflicts are thoroughly examined by an unnamed interviewer who questions the posthumous Nevelson with an unabashed scrutiny. From her unique vantage point beyond the grave, Nevelson answers his queries with a clarity born of the distance provided by death. The result is a touching, humorous, and honest tribute to a woman who was a pioneer for free-thinking females everywhere, but also stood strongly on her own as one of the 20th century's greatest artistic minds.

Occupant premiered in 2008 at the Signature Theatre Company off Broadway in New York City. The play has been performed in regional repertory, college, and community theatre productions.

Cast: 1 female, 1 male

What people say:

"When a writer or director's name begins appearing in the title (Fellini's Satyricon, Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein), it's generally a sign that fog is on the horizon, but with the new Occupant, at the Signature off-Broadway, the perspectives are still clear." — Financial Times (London)

"Imagine an episode of Inside the Actors Studio reworked as Inside the Sculptor's Studio and you've got a decent bead on Edward Albee's Occupant." — New York Daily News

"The play also touches on themes that echo throughout Mr. Albee's work: the unreliability of memory, the chimerical nature of language and particularly the alchemical brew of truth and illusion (to borrow a much-used pair of words from Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) by which people define themselves." — The New York Times

"A moving meditation on truth and illusion and what it takes to become famous." — Tolucan Times

About the Playwright:

Edward Albee (1928-2016) was an American playwright. Widely considered the foremost American dramatist of his generation, he wrote and directed some of the best plays in contemporary American theatre. Three of his plays have received Pulitzer Prizes, and two won a Tony Award for best play. He was awarded the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters in 1980, and in 1996 he received both the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts. In 2005 he was awarded the special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.