The Hippodrome State Theatre kicks off its 1998 season with Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize winning drama "Three Tall Women" (1991). 

"Three Tall Women" is a captivating tale of a woman's life voyage as depicted through three manifestations of herself at young womanhood, middle age and borderline senility. While the plot is witty and the characters quirky, Albee offers valuable insights into both the construction of personality and its subjection to change. 

The first act of the drama introduces a zany elderly woman of 92, her middle-aged, reality-grounded caretaker and her young, haughty, determined lawyer. Albee's script calls for no naming of the characters - they are simply referred to as A, B, and C. 

By using this quirky technique, Albee alludes to the oneness of their personalities. The elderly woman (A), played by Jayne Heller, stands alone in the spotlight of Act I. 

She questions her senility and her inability to accurately remember details of her youth, her husband and her affair. The elderly woman's senility is countered by the young lawyer (C) who hides behind the illusions of her youth, beauty and immortality. The caretaking nurse (B) serves as the median between the personalities of the elderly woman and the lawyer. The greatest transformation in the second act is the emergence of the lawyer, the caretaker and the elderly woman as representations of the same woman at early, middle and later life. All three women want to know about their future lives. 

The youngest wants to know who she marries, and her enthusiasm for life is only overshadowed by her disdain for her older "self." Meanwhile, the middle-aged woman wants to hear about the impending tragedies in her life. 

The eldest character incarnation just laughs at the other two, knowing that her own knowledge of life is incomplete. Albee's three-fold image of the woman depicts how personalities and values change as new obstacles and experiences arise - a shrewd move in a fine play.