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Don't be afraid of 'Virginia Woolf'
Stellar performances by Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin lift touring "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" into must-see categoryDate published: 1/18/2007 WASHINGTON--"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is tear-'em-up-fling-the-bloody-pieces-around theater. Not for the faint-hearted, Edward Albee's caustic psycho-drama has been walloping audiences for 45 years, and it hasn't lost its punch yet. Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin have come to Washington with the performances that earned Irwin a 2005 Tony Award for best actor and Turner the (London) Evening Standard Award for best actress in 2006. This is their first stop in a five-month, five-city national tour. They play George and Martha, he a college history professor, she the daughter of the college president. When we meet them, entertaining a young faculty couple at the end of a long, alcohol-infused evening, it soon becomes apparent that their 23-year marriage has been a vicious battleground. Martha bludgeons George, George skewers Martha, they tear their guests apart. It's terrible to watch. There are those who maintain there's a glimmer of hope for G. and M. at the end. If so, it would be akin to piecing together a document that's been through a shredder. Despite, or perhaps because of, its nerve-scraping vindictiveness, "Woolf" is Theater with a capital T. One is reminded of Agamemnon's domestic difficulties. And with Turner and Irwin on board, this production becomes a must-see. It's obvious why the two won their awards. Irwin, with whom one is much more familiar as a talented clown ("Fool Moon," "The Regard of Flight"), is spot-on as the quiet pedant armed with a stiletto tongue. Even his carriage is stiff as he moves about the stage, but the turmoil beneath the shell erupts in laser bolts. Turner is marvelous as the blowsy, vulgar Mar-tha. She has the steamroller persona down pat. Not until the very end does she allow us to see Martha's vulnerability and self-loathing. It's a beautifully nuanced performance, as is Irwin's. The only problem is that Turner's delivery of Martha's careless speech is sometimes hard to understand, particularly as Martha gets drunker and drunker. Kathleen Early and David Furr also do excellent jobs as the hapless couple being "entertained" by George and Martha, skillfully holding up the other two corners of this boxing ring.
Date published: 1/18/2007
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