Advertisement

Culture Stage

Preview: Whos Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? by Edward Albee, directed by Diana Leblanc, with Diego Matamoros, Nancy Palk, Tim Campbell and Diana Donnelly. Presented by Soulpepper at the Young Centre (55 Mill). Previews begin Saturday (August 29), opens September 10 and runs in rep to October 24, Monday-Saturday 7:30 pm, some mats 1:30 pm. $36-$68, stu $28, rush $20 (stu $5). 416-866-8666. See listing.

Hump the hostess. Get the guests. Those are some of the nasty party games that drive the action of Edward Albee’s 1962 Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? The award-winning play is still able to shock audiences with its frankness, dark humour and psychological punches.[rssbreak]

Its four characters – two couples at a northeast American university – spend a long night drinking, exposing secrets and trying to one-up each other.

“But I see the play as a love story,” says Diana Donnelly, who plays the innocent Honey, wed to newly hired biologist Nick. “There’s the nasty side, sure, but there’s a Romeo and Juliet element, too.

“The play’s about the failure of love for both couples, and while we watch all four of the characters do a lot of emotional arm-wrestling, they all want to love and be loved. Trouble is, they keep getting it wrong.”

There are moments of surprising tenderness between George and Martha (in this Soulpepper production, Diego Matamoros and Nancy Palk)

Download associated audio clip.

, the older couple who host the drinking party that lays bare old wounds and inflicts a few new ones.

“Nick and Honey walk unwittingly into a long-term, vicious war between George and Martha, and they can’t help but be affected by it,” adds Tim Campbell, who plays Nick.

The play hasn’t had a professional Toronto production for decades, and Campbell and Donnelly are excited about introducing younger audiences to Albee’s lacerating, witty script.

“One of the draws for an actor is the range of skills demanded of us,” says Campbell, a Stratford veteran whose Toronto work includes Moliere and The Last Days Of Judas Iscariot.

“There are moments of extreme seriousness and emotional depth to plumb, while at the same time there’s a deft comic construction to the scenes. We have to move quickly from naturalism to the highly theatrical. It’s simultaneously exciting and terrifying.”

“And within all this great writing, there’s a feeling of improvising,” continues Donnelly, whose Soulpepper work includes Top Girls and The Way Of The World.

“When you speak Albee’s text, there’s a sense that you’re making it up as you go along. As a writer, he’s a great listener and knows how to build a scene so that every line builds on what went before.”

Albee’s a stickler for the specific words and pauses he places on the page. Campbell mentions the playwright’s comparing the art of the composer and that of the stage writer. The actor likens the play to a chamber quartet for actors.

Download associated audio clip.

And does this night of booze and revelations change Honey and Nick?

“I think they’re forever different because of it,” starts Campbell. “I’m not optimistic about their future. They’ve pretended publicly and privately about the true nature of their relationship, and the reality is exposed during this late-night get-together, fuelled by about 18 glasses of bourbon.”

The worst thing, continues Donnelly, would be for the young couple to have amnesia about what they’ve learned and divulged.

“I’ve been told that oxygen is pumped into Las Vegas casinos to keep people going. Here, it’s as if truth serum – aided by alcohol – is pumped into George and Martha’s living room. We all keep speaking the truth, hurting and surprising each other.”

Yet the three-hour play, for all its emotional and physical demands, is exhilarating for the actors

Download associated audio clip.

. Campbell and Donnelly can’t wait to get into a repertory run.

“And who knows?” smiles Campbell. “Maybe 20 years from now we’ll be playing George and Martha. That would be exciting.”

jonkap@nowtoronto.com

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted