West End’s newest theatre packs a punch with its latest production. With a star studded cast, it has big expectations to live up to and that it certainly does.Rating
Excellent
A cast that includes big name actors is often one that should be treated with caution and critique, yet Jim Carnahan and Liz Fraser‘s casting choices for Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf? hits the nail on the head. For a play that debuted over 60 years ago, its scathing examination of truth, illusion and power culminates in an exhilarating, mind-bending whirlwind of the worst after party drinks ever.
The play examines the fraught relationship of older couple Martha (Gillian Anderson) and George (Billy Crudup) over a singular night as they invite the unsuspecting Nick (Josh Dylan) and Honey (Phoebe Horn) for drinks. For a show with a run time of three hours, the production risks becoming an endurance test for audiences, especially with an interval landing just after the first hour. Instead it grips and captivates with stellar acting performances that never cease in their uncomfortable tension and humorous wit.
Anderson and Crudup show that they are at home on the theatre stage. The constant tension, scheming and power play between the two is acted out with such conviction that you’re constantly both despising and pitying them. Anderson characterises Martha’s playful seduction and biting humiliation of her husband with such ferocity and charm. Paired with Crudup’s sarcasm and violence, they both act out a highly toxic relationship that unfolds into unimaginably dark psychological games.
Whether it’s Horn’s hysterical drunkenness or Dylan’s attempts to outwit George, they too offer superb performances that drive the evergrowing unsettling revelations. Acting as a foil to the older couple whilst projecting a perhaps future version of their marriage, the two find themselves flung into an unexpected battle of intelligence and cruelty.
Miriam Buether’s stage design fits seamlessly into encapsulating the early sixties: retro colours, books, a long lounge couch and a drinks trolley. It sets the scene of the academic college environment whilst the extreme drinking habits fuel the action. Ingrid Mackinnon’s movement direction exceeds in how the stage is utilised to its advantage. As Horn crawls across the floor or Anderson teeters around the stage’s edge in despair, the circular stage feels increasingly suffocating, almost as if they’re caged animals with Crudup’s groans, Horn’s shrieks and Dylan’s mounting. Whilst @sohoplace’s circular stage can be at times frustrating when an actor’s back is turned, the subtle movement of the stage is ingenious in adding to the dizzying nature of the content.
Director Marianne Elliott clearly has a vision for this production and executes it well. She puts audiences through three hours of rising tensions, psychological drama and physical and verbal violence before tearing illusion away so that all remains is the unfortunate reality of the deeply flawed characters. As Honey and Nick, dishevelled, stumble off the stage, Martha and George are left with the harsh reality of emptiness. The horrifying nature of it all settles in as the theatre lights rise.
Directed by Marianne Elliott
Produced by Sonia Friedman
Design by Miriam Buether
Lighting design by James Farncombe
Sound design by Ian Dickinson
Casting by Jim Carnahan and Liz Fraser
Movement and intimacy direction by Ingrid Mackinnon
Voice & dialect coaching by Charmian Hoare
Fight direction by Sam Lyon-Behan
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? runs at @sohoplace until Saturday 19 December.
