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Don't be afraid of 'Virginia Woolf'

January 18, 2007 12:50 am

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.

Early's Honey is winsome, vague and slightly skewed. Furr's Nick is brash, overweening, out for the main chance. Furr was also part of the cast in the 2005 Broadway revival of the play. Washington audiences may remember Early's stellar Hero in the 2002 production of "Much Ado About Nothing" at The Shakespeare Theatre.

Director Anthony Page has been well-served by set designer John Lee Beatty and costume designer Jane Greenwood. If this production has been streamlined for the road, it doesn't show.

A minor costume quibble: In the script Albee describes Martha's first-act costume change as making her look voluptuous. Her black sweater's V-neck does show a fair amount of cleavage, but paired with baggy brown slacks the look is not overwhelmingly sensual. George, however, is right on key with his shapeless, gray-on-gray ensemble.

When "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" debuted on Broadway in 1962, the explicit language and sexual frankness scared the Pulitzer trustees out of their socks. They elected not to give a drama award that year rather than tap Albee's blockbuster. It did win the Tony Award for best play and the New York Drama Critics Circle award.

Today's audiences, accustomed to Jerry Springer and reality-show excesses, won't be shocked by "Woolf." They will be moved.

To reach LUCIA ANDERSON: 540/374-5405
Email: landerson@freelancestar.com