Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?: A Play Audiences at the original Broadway production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? were keenly aware that they were witnessing the transformation of a promising playwright into a figure of world importance, through a play clearly destined to become a modern classic. Time has richly borne out this view. This dazzling work of gut-wrenching dark comedy presents perhaps the most memorable of married couples, George and Martha, in a searing night of dangerous fun and games with a pawnlike other couple who innocently become their weapons in the savaging of each other and of their life together. By the evening's end, a stunning, almost unbearable revelation provides a climactic shock of recognition at the bond and bondage of their love. In its superlative construction, in its mastery of razor-honed dialogue and emotional crescendo, and above all in its power to strip away layer after layer of a social pretense to expose the naked nerve of truth, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is one of the most riveting and unforgettable experiences of the American theater. |
