Edwards Albee’s play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” published and first staged on Broadway in 1962 is reportedly seen by many as his most important work. This new “Made at Curve” production, directed by Cara Nolan, is wonderfully cast and unequivocally brutal.
The performance opens with Martha, played by Cathy Tyson and George – Martha’s disillusioned husband, played by Patrick Robinson, returning home late from a party at 2am. The air is tense, and the couple are bickering.
The impressive 60s stage set in Martha and George’s living room gives an insight into their chaotic life.
When Martha informs George that a young couple, Nick, played by George Kemp and Honey, played by Tilly Steele are coming over for drinks, George is not pleased.
George is a professor of history and the dysfunctional couple live on the college campus. Martha’s father – whom she continually references in order, it seems, to belittle George – is the college president. Martha explains to George her father has told her to be nice and welcoming to the couple. This gives justification for Martha to invite the couple over so late.
Naive young couple Nick – an ambitious professor of biology – and Honey really don’t know what they have let themselves in for as a casual drink descends into a night of twisted games and bitter sparring. Boxing references are casually thrown into the play, with Martha telling a story of when she and George were learning to box (she casually mentions this was at her father’s request), when she says she “accidentally” knocks George flat on his back.
This humiliates George, who fetches a “gun”. The young couple are not aware the gun is fake until it shoots out a parasol, using dark humour to illustrate the older couple’s calamitous relationship.
A major part of the dialogue centres around the older couple’s non-existent son, which appears to be a way of them coping with having no children and to avoid addressing their marital tensions.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a three-act play, with two intervals. The script is certainly intense and sometimes painful but it is also extremely witty.
★★★★
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is at Curve until Saturday, November 8
Tickets £10 – £45
