On the campus of a small New England college, George and Martha invite a new professor and his wife home for a nightcap. As the cocktails flow, the young couple finds themselves caught in the crossfire of a savage marital war where the combatants attack the self-deceptions they forged for their own survival. Steppenwolf ensemble members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton face off as one of theatre's most notoriously dysfunctional couples in Albee's hilarious and harrowing masterpiece.
The Broadway opening will mark exactly 50 years to the date after the play's original Broadway opening on Saturday, October 13, 1962. This production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? originally ran at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company (December 13, 2010 - February 13, 2011) and then transferred to Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage (February 25 - April 10, 2011)
Witty, sarcastic, cruel, clownish, with the timing of a stand-up comic, Letts makes George a very funny, scarily driven man, the quicksilver center of the evening. You can see the stakes rise in the color of his face, which turns bright red as his anger peaks. Meanwhile, Morton, a perfect acting mate, gives glimpses of fear beneath Martha's boisterous, belittling manner, prefiguring the last, poignant line of the play.
Letts relays this dark-horse quality as powerfully as any performer this critic has seen in the role. From his masterfully acerbic rebuttals to Martha's initial barrage of insults, this George proves that he isn't the mere simp his wife describes but rather a simmering cauldron of frustration and disappointment. And he lets the lid off with an unmannered intensity that is as bracing as it is convincing. Of course, any production of Woolf relies on the strength of its four-member cast; and this one, transferred from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, has no weak links. Morton's savage but ultimately poignant Martha is, in keeping with Letts' stringent delivery, drier and less flamboyant than Kathleen Turner's in the last Broadway revival...You'll leave the gathering shaken and sobered, but also exhilarated. All golden anniversaries should be this memorable.
1962 | Broadway |
Broadway |
1976 | Broadway |
Broadway |
2005 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
2012 | Broadway |
Steppenwolf Theatre Company Production Broadway |
2017 | West End |
West End Revival West End |
2020 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Tracy Letts |
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Amy Morton |
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Pam MacKinnon |
2013 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | 0 |
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Tracy Letts |
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Amy Morton |
2013 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | 0 |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Tracy Letts |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | David Hyde Pierce |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Amy Morton |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Pam MacKinnon |
2013 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | 0 |
2013 | Theatre World Awards | Theatre World Award | Carrie Coon |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Pam MacKinnon |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Tracy Letts |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play | Carrie Coon |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play | Amy Morton |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Jerry Frankel |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Steppenwolf Theatre Company |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Angelina Fiordellisi |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | GFour Productions |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Will Trice |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Kirmser Ponturo Fund |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Kathleen K. Johnson |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Ken Greiner |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Luigi & Rose Caiola |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Dramatic Forces |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Michael Palitz |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Cheryl Lachowicz |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Jam Theatricals |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Richard Gross |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Mark S. Golub & David S. Golub |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Patty Baker |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Amy Danis & Mark Johannes |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Kit Seidel |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Mary Lu Roffe |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Susan Quint Gallin |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Jeffrey Richards |
2013 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Play | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? |
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