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Culture Theatre

Whos Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? by Edward Albee, directed by Diana Leblanc. Presented by Soulpepper at the Young Centre (55 Mill). In rep to October 24. $28-$68. 416-866-8666. See listing. Rating: NNN

When it premiered more than 40 years ago, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? must have hit theatre audiences like a sledgehammer.

Imagine Mad Men’s Don and Betty Draper going out for a pleasant night at the theatre, only to witness the funny-scary-sad game-playing between academic couples George and Martha (Diego Matamoros, Nancy Palk) and their younger counterparts, Nick and Honey (Tim Campbell, Diana Donnelly).

Albee’s three-act tale of one alcohol-fuelled Long Night’s Journey Into Day remains a fascinating study of broken dreams, crushed egos and survival. When this emotional marathon’s done well, as it is here in Diana Leblanc’s handsome production, it delivers catharsis and opens us up to the compromises we’ve made in our own lives.

But it’s lost some of its edge. Chalk that up to our minds cluttered with self-help gurus’ advice and lowest-common denominator reality shows. Underachieving history prof George’s verbal SM sessions with his frustrated wife, Martha, are all too familiar and unshocking.

Still, the show entertains, largely because of its carefully modulated performances. Palk starts at a high pitch, her savage bons mots piercing in their anger and wit, which makes her later vulnerability touching and tender. Matamoros’s George is quiet in the first act, his lulling monotone gradually gaining force and variety as he plays his cruel cards.

The young actors hold their own in contrasting parts, with Campbell suggesting the scary ambition beneath a preppy exterior.

It’s all fine. But there’s an urgency missing from this production. Even the playful in-joke title, in this post-postmodern world, seems merely cute and not the anti-establishment kick in the ass it must have been in 1966.

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