The play tells the story of one night--one very long night--that an old married couple spends "entertaining" a younger married couple in their home. Over the course of the night, all of the problems in both marriages (and there are many) are brought to the surface, and the audience watches as their relationships collapse. It's sad, yes, but even more so, it's disturbing. The hosts, George and Martha, are vicious people. Their guests, Nick and Honey, have their issues, too, but they're nowhere near as cruel. George and Martha try incessantly to hurt each other in any way they can. They will use anyone and anything against each other, no matter what it costs them (or anyone else who happens to get caught in their crossfire). They are deeply, deeply damaged people who are clearly bad for each other, but, it seems, stuck together forever.
The structure of the play is excellent. It builds and shifts, so that despite the fact that it's a lot more talking than action, the audience doesn't get bored. The characters change their tactics constantly--some of the exchanges between George and Martha are like watching a sword fight. The slow reveal of information keeps the audience engaged as well. George and Martha's mysterious "son" is mentioned at the beginning of the show, and as it progresses, the information the audience learns becomes more complex and intriguing. And by the end, the refrain is eerie enough to send shivers down your spine: "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf, Virginia Woolf..."
The play is great. But it's not the kind of play that will restore your faith in humanity or make you feel better about the world. It may make you feel better about your life--by comparison. It's It's tragic and sickening and unresolved--as Martha puts it, "what a dump."
Albee was not known for being uplifting, but you did make me want to see the movie again -- Burton and Taylor are awesome in these roles!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very interesting play; the premise is quite unique. I think I have heard of this one before, the title sounds familiar, but I've never read nor seen it. It's also cool that despite it being mostly dialogue as you said, it still holds the audience's attention. That's a challenging thing to do, in my opinion. This blog post makes me very interested in reading/watching it! I'm curious to know who the mysterious son of Martha is! And who exactly is Virginia Woolf? Also, I like that you added that picture in at the end, it really adds to the post!
ReplyDeleteThanks Melody! Yeah, I would highly recommend you watch the movie (the version that the poster is for--the one with Elizabeth Taylor). I've only seen a little but of it, but Ms. Romano's seen it and she says it's fantastic. The mysterious son of Martha is never really resolved explicitly, but the impression I got from watching the play is that he's not real. They made him up, not to lie to other people, but so they could pretend for themselves. It's really kind of heartbreaking. They're clearly so, so sad. Virginia Woolf was a very successful modernist writer. I'm not entirely sure I understand yet why that's the refrain Albee chose. In the story, it's a running joke from the party they were just at, but I still don't get it. I'm hoping that researching her a little more and watching the movie will help clarify it for me.
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