An emotional portrayal of life, love and bitter disappointment, James Macdonald's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is a riveting masterpiece, says Fiona Adams
Johan Persson
Imelda Staunton
The auditorium erupts as the curtain falls on the final scene of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. We have endured three hours of vicious, gut-wrenching drama and loved every minute of it. Yet, like the four actors who appear on stage soon after to receive their applause, we are emotionally drained and ready for a lie down.
Edward Albee’s play, which premiered on Broadway in 1962 and is one of two by the American author currently playing in London, has lost none of its bite and neither has it dated.
George (Conleth Hill), a small town New England college professor and his wife Martha (Imelda Staunton) – also the daughter of the college president – are locked in a marriage fuelled by frustration, disappointment and grief. After a boozy work party, Martha invites a new, handsome teacher and his pretty, blonde wife back for drinks, even though it’s well after 2am. Already well primed with gin, it is obvious from the start that Martha has a cruel battle agenda in mind and we can do nothing other than sit back and watch as the verbal arrows fly.
Like us, Nick (Luke Treadaway) and Honey (Imogen Poots) are unwitting witnesses to this domestic sparring match. All perfectly coiffured and smart when they arrive smiling at the door, they too get stuck into the drinks trolley and as they are drawn into George and Martha’s vitriolic games, the hair and make-up go a little awry and the cracks in their own marriage start to show. Breakdown and tragedy lurk constantly in the shadows.
Johan Persson
Luke Treadaway & Imogen Poots
Conleth Hill captures the passive-aggressive nature of George perfectly, one minute hangdog, the next wounded, another pleading and then indiscriminately vicious. He is more than matched by Imelda Staunton, who dominates the stage with her presence. As Martha, she is acerbic, taunting, flirtatious and heartbroken: four seasons in one day and absolutely brilliant at every one. Credit is also due to Luke Treadaway and Imogen Poots, who are drawn so unwillingly through the emotional wringer. They capture the veneer of optimistic – yet frustrated – youth perfectly, leaving the ‘party’ only when released by George along with the realization that they could easily be a George and Martha in the making.
Edward Albee’s play was denied the Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama in the year it premiered on the grounds that it was a ‘filthy play’. There is some highly colourful language, which surely would have shocked 1960s audiences, and the themes of adultery, fake pregnancies and ‘lost’ children would also have been uncomfortable topics to take on board. Yet while this blackest of comedies unfolds you can almost feel the audience shifting uncomfortably in their seats as they wonder if they too have wounded their partner like that under the influence of alcohol.
Perhaps most telling though for today’s audiences is the scene when Martha and Nick are necking on the stairs and George blithely turns his back and reads a book – The Decline of the West. Adultery and alcoholism aside, that brief glimpse of the book jacket seemed particularly pertinent in these interesting times.
- Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf is showing at the Harold Pinter Theatre until May 27, for more info and to book tickets visit atgtickets.com
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