On Feb. 25, 2014, a program in the Stage One studio theater took a look at the lives and careers of former Wagner College English professor Willard Maas and his wife, experimental filmmaker Marie Menken, who inspired the lead characters in a groundbreaking drama created by their friend, Edward Albee — “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Following an introduction by President Richard Guarasci, a video by campus historian Lee Manchester told the story of Maas & Menken and their life in New York’s avant-garde arts world of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. Wagner College Theatre faculty members David McDonald and Michele Pawk delivered an engaging staged reading of the opening scene from “Virginia Woolf,” and theater writer Jeffrey Sweet offered interpretive remarks to help frame the conversation about Maas, Menken, Albee, “Woolf” and this fascinating episode in Wagner College’s cultural history.

(For more about this episode, read the Wagner Magazine story online.)

WATCH THE COMPLETE STAGE ONE PROGRAM HERE: