The April 30 event will be held in the Library's Rabb Auditorium and will feature panelists Edward Albee, Rick Lombardo and Karen MacDonald. Ed Siegel will moderate the evening, which runs 6:30-8 PM.

"Today, with expanding options for at-home-entertainment," read press notes for the one-night-only event, "the theatre is faced with increasing competition to attract the last, and perhaps, most important element — the audience. What is it that still draws millions every year to a darkened auditorium and a stage? What are writers, directors, and actors doing to bring in new generations of theatregoers? Will we continue to make our way to Broadway and regional productions for decades (and centuries) to come?"

Playwright Edward Albee won Best Play Tony Awards for Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?. He was also Tony nominated for The Ballad of the Sad Café, Tiny Alice, A Delicate Balance and Seascape. Albee is also the recipient of three Pulitzer Prizes, the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters, the Kennedy Center Honors and the National Medal of Arts.

Rick Lombardo is currently celebrating his tenth season as New Repertory Theater's producing artistic director where he recently directed Into the Woods, Quills and the world premiere of Approaching Moomtaj.

Karen MacDonald is a founding member and veteran of 58 productions at the American Repertory Theatre. The Boston Public Library is located at 700 Boylston Street in Boston, MA. Admission is free. For more information call (617) 373-5800 or visit ww.fordhallforum.org.