LondonTheatre1

London Theatre: Tickets Reviews | News | West End | Off-West End | UK Touring Productions

View All Shows Booking Now
  • Home
  • Top Selling Shows
    • Musicals
    • Plays
      • A Christmas Carol
      • Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
      • The Mousetrap
      • The Woman in Black
      • Witness for the Prosecution
    • & Juliet
    • Back To The Future
    • Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club
    • Come From Away
    • Dirty Dancing
    • Frozen The Musical
    • Heathers
    • Jersey Boys
    • Les Misérables
    • Mamma Mia
    • Matilda the Musical
    • My Fair Lady
    • Moulin Rouge
    • Only Fools and Horses
    • Pretty Woman the Musical
    • The Book of Mormon
    • The Drifters Girl
    • The Lion King
    • The Phantom of the Opera
    • Tina the Musical
    • Wicked
    • London Theatres
      • Seating Plans
      • Adelphi Theatre
      • Ambassadors Theatre
      • Apollo Theatre
      • Duke of York’s Theatre
      • Fortune Theatre
      • Gillian Lynne Theatre
      • Harold Pinter Theatre
      • Lyceum Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre
      • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
      • Piccadilly Theatre
      • Richmond Theatre
      • Savoy Theatre
      • Trafalgar Theatre
  • News
    • Interviews
  • Reviews
  • UK Shows
    • Alexandra Theatre
    • Aylesbury Waterside Theatre
    • Brighton Theatre Royal
    • Bristol Hippodrome
      • Bristol Theatre Seating Plan
    • Edinburgh Playhouse
    • Glasgow Theatre Royal
    • Grand Opera House York
    • King’s Theatre Glasgow
    • Kit Kat Club London
    • Leas Cliff Hall
    • Liverpool Empire
    • Manchester Opera House
    • Manchester Palace Theatre
    • Milton Keynes Theatre
    • New Theatre Oxford
    • New Victoria Theatre Woking
    • New Wimbledon Theatre
    • New Wimbledon Theatre Studio
    • Princess Theatre Torquay
    • Regent Theatre Stoke
    • Rhoda McGaw Theatre
    • Richmond Theatre
    • Stockton Globe
    • Sunderland Empire
    • Swansea Arena
    • Victoria Hall Hanley Stoke
  • Dancewear
  • Newsletter
Home » Reviews » Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – ‘marvellous and gripping production’

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? – ‘marvellous and gripping production’

March 10, 2017 Last updated: July 6, 2019 2:38 pm By Chris Omaweng

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?You don’t have to know who Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was, or the sort of works she published, but it helps, in order to reach a precise understanding as to why Edward Albee’s play was titled Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and more particularly anyone in the play just might be ‘afraid’ of what Virginia Woolf represents, an author who said in a lecture in May 1940, “If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.”

George (Conleth Hill) and Martha (Imelda Staunton), are an older couple, at least relative to their guests, Nick (Luke Treadaway) and Honey (Imogen Poots). George and Martha were apparently named by Albee after George and Martha Washington, the play itself being a possible allegory for the United States, or at least Albee’s view of it. The narrative unfolds over just one night, and this production is so intense and absorbing I found myself willing both the ‘interval’ of 15 minutes between Act 1 and Act 2 as well as the ‘pause’ of just five minutes between Act 2 and Act 3 to end.

It didn’t take long, mind you, for the ever-tense atmosphere to re-establish itself. Staunton’s Martha is a furious fireball, a volcano that keeps erupting, mostly in frustration at George’s resigned and world-weary approach to life. Not that George has ‘given up’ – he fights back in sarcastic manner that makes him almost British in this most American of plays. But whatever relentlessly sought after aspirations that are lacking in George are very much present in Nick, and Honey’s more relaxed perspective is, in turn, more endearing to George. What might be inevitable in a lesser complex and textured play than this one isn’t, and each of the characters, in their own way, have created illusions (or perhaps delusions) of their lives, presumably because the harsh reality of real life is unpalatable.

Poots’ Honey comes across at first as somewhat naïve and academically challenged, at least relative to the men in the room, a historian and a biologist, but as the night goes on, there’s more to her than being a mere deferential preacher’s daughter. I will say this for Poots: she puts in a masterclass performance in winging it when one is outside one’s comfort zone. Treadaway’s Nick, meanwhile, could well have been now where George was a generation ago – is the play suggesting that history has a tendency to repeat itself?

Despite some very dark themes, the script is laced with humour, though much of it is itself dark, but without it, the three-hour running time would have felt a lot longer. In this production, it doesn’t exactly whizz by, but neither does the action drag. What I found remarkable is that a play partly about an inability to articulate clearly actually communicates so much. It has the morals of one of those school assembly stories about telling the truth because lying leads to more lying and yet more lying with ever-increasing disastrous consequences – but, unlike those dreary assemblies of old, the only patronising nature to be found here is in the acid-tongued arguments and counter-arguments as the characters turn on each other. It’s a hoot.

There’s something highly theatrical indeed about a world of make-believe created by George and Martha, contained within another world of make-believe (that is, the show itself). It made me think of instances elsewhere where the cold, naked truth of something has either been evaded, sanded down or flatly denied – so much in this show is so remarkably relatable. One more thing: anyone who believes that ‘sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me’ hasn’t seen this marvellous and gripping production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

5 Star Rating

In the early hours of the morning on the campus of an American college, Martha, much to her husband George’s displeasure, has invited the new professor Nick and his wife Honey to their home for some after-party drinks. As the alcohol flows and dawn approaches, the young couple are drawn into George and Martha’s toxic games until the evening reaches its climax in a moment of devastating truth-telling.

Harold Pinter Theatre
6 Panton Street, London, SW1Y 4DN

Additional Information
Age Restrictions:
Recommended for 12+. Children under 5 years and babes in arms will strictly not be admitted.
Booking From: 22nd Feb 2017
Booking Until: 27th May 2017
Important Information: Contains strong language and adult themes.

Tagged With: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Search for Tickets

SMOKE by Kim Davies at Southwark Playhouse

Like most people, I think, I often have mixed feelings about a show I see. Occasionally, though it is rare, there will be a production where … [Read More...]

Wodehouse in Wonderland at Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford

The well-known actor Robert Daws has worked with writer William Humble many times and in 2017 asked him if he would be interested in writing a one-man … [Read More...]

DOG HAIR at VAULT Festival

“The times they are a-changin'”, as Bob Dylan put it - and as a deceased woman’s grandson (Phillip Jones) returns home to attend the funeral, the … [Read More...]

Mythos: Ragnarök at Vault Festival

It’s not often that the entertainment tastes of an intellectually snobby middle-aged woman and an action-mad 10-year-old boy align perfectly, but … [Read More...]

Notre Dame (Online) Threedumb Theatre

Notre Dame is the latest digital production by Threedumb Theatre, live-streamed from The Space in Canary Wharf, London and directed by Stephen Smith, … [Read More...]

London Theatre 1 and London Theatre One are Registered Trademarks Copyright 2023 www.LondonTheatre1.com
By using our website you’re confirming that you’re happy to accept our use of cookies.
Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising - About Us - Newsletter - Contact Us

As an Amazon Associate our website receives a commission from qualifying purchases from Amazon.