American Voices-Jayne Houdyshell: I admire Albee’s writing deeply. There is never a false word. Albee’s language carries an actor rather than the other way around. His language is the roadmap which leads me, the actor, into the world of the play. The characters in A Delicate Balance know one another so completely, that they don’t surprise one another with new information so much as continually challenge one another by revealing the already known truths of their lives and relationships. It is these truths that are dangerous. I feel the tension of the play is created by asking just how much truth can we take? In this classic American work, Albee has written an exquisite and timeless play that explores the thing we most fear—the unspeakable.

One of the American Theater’s most celebrated actors, Jayne’s recent Broadway credits include Madame Morrible in Wicked and Ann Kron in Well.