Review: 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf'

By James Metcalf

York Dramasoc’s new production of Edward Albee’s off the wall psychological play ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ is quite possibly the best performance I have ever seen in the barn.

Produced by Issy Smith, this truly intriguing play is not what one might expect. Beginning with a domestic spat between history professor George (played by Jamie Oliver) and his wife (played by Ali Skamangas), the play soon degenerates from what, on the surface, appears to be essentially harmless repartee, into the verbal interplay of two psychologically damaged human beings.

Viewed from the eyes of the young biology professor known (but not named) as Nick (played by Rory Hern) and his brandy-addicted, painfully awkward and mouse-like wife Honey (played by Sophie Mann) who are visiting the older couple after a late night party, the audience similarly experience their subjective feelings of awkward involvement in what is clearly a personal exchange, as well as the obvious, voyeuristic thrill they experience as their hosts become increasingly vindictive and entertaining.

Of course, the evening cannot simply stagnate at this juncture of mingled discomfiture and self-conscious excitement, and, as the passage of time slips all too quickly through the fingers of the middle-aged George and Martha, the game they are playing with their young guests and with each other becomes ever more apparent, certain truths are revealed that turn byplay into the cruel scars left by the acts of surreptitious violence carried out by their hosts.

The title of the play is derived from the classic song ‘Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf’, and its central theme is the movement of time, which seems to be escaping the struggling professor, who is failing to take over the history department at the university in the small American town of New Carthage, and his wife, who’s marriage seems to be the product of George’s career-motivated desire (as she is the daughter of the university’s president). Reference is continually made to birthdays, the age difference between the couples, birth and death, and the tolling of bells, yet the emphasis is never over-stated, and the motifs of violence, sex, and the addiction and excess so often associated with the mid-twentieth-century provide the play with an extravagant multifocality, giving the audience a unique and captivating insight into the visceral reality of a tragically damaged marriage.

There is very little to detract from the brilliance of Dramasoc’s latest offering. The American accents of Skamangas, Hern, and Mann were flawless, the setting was deceptively provincial, delivering quite the scene of false security, and the acting of every cast member was truly staggering. If there was a standout performance, Ali Skamangas as the complex, troubled and self-conscious, but brash and hypersexual, Martha is without doubt the finest student acting I have ever seen. She is at once dramatic and occasionally very funny with her dry attacks on her husband; still, the use of the song as a tension building motif, the cyclical rhythm of the play’s three parts – beginning with a lull and rapidly building to an aggressive climax – and the blatant, waspish ferocity of each character as they turn on each other indiscriminately awards the audience for their attendance with dynamic and poignant performances from all concerned.

Not only is the play simultaneously full of the inherent tragedy of human life, and the comedy one is forced to employ to manage the pain of this experience, but it manages to capture this overwhelming devastation without descending into despair. With performances to match those of a professional standard, ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ is decidedly one to watch.

You can see ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ at York Dramabarn at 19.30 on Saturday and Sunday.