The Zoo Story, Albee's first play written as an adult. The one-act premiered in 1959 and suggests the future elements of Albee's work (especially the idea suggested in the title that beneath the illusion of civilization, human beings are essentially animals capable of startling vicious-ness). In the play, Jerry, an embittered outsider, confronts the conformist Peter on a park bench, mducing him to listen to much of Jerry's life story and then provoking him into defending himself and his way of life.

A Delicate Balance. Albee won his first Pulitzer Prize for this 1966 play, but many considered the award merely belated recognition for Virginia Woolf. This play revolves around similar elements (two couples in a living room engaged in a crisis, the death of a child, the failures of educated and well-intentioned people), causing critics to variously see it either as...