Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Soho Place

Before the discourse around toxic relationships entered the cultural lexicon, there was the visceral embodiment of toxic co-dependency via Martha and George in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. Edward Albee’s seminal play was famously adapted into a film with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, themselves locked in marital tumult. Now, in Marianne Elliott’s production, there are Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup stepping into the respective spiked stilettos and battered brogues of Martha and George, casting choices that may seem curious at first but work splendidly.

“Truth and illusion, truth and illusion” is George and Martha’s mantra as the stage slowly rotates throughout the performance – imperceptibly at first, then dizzying by the climax. Less in the round, it’s more a colosseum in which the couple enact their psychological warfare. The set design encapsulates the taupe-drenched mid-century modern style: an orange velvet sofa; square accent chairs oxidised by cigarette smoke (the sickly artificial smell of which reaches the audience’s nostrils); a bar cart that swivels with the stage and the characters’ increasing inebriation.

The play is one of rapid-fire vitriol, George and Martha locked in a perpetual cycle of verbal jousting and twisted roleplay, and dragging their neighbours, young couple Nick (Josh Dylan) and Honey (Phoebe Horn), into the crossfire. Having earlier this year demonstrated her aptitude for camp as a Gloria Swanson type in Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, Anderson gives it her all. She struts about the set, sneering at her husband and purring at the “firm-bodied” Nick, only to spit those ego strokes back in his face. Those more familiar with the 1966 film may find that Crudup’s performance lacks the bite of Burton’s threatening baritone. He initially plays George as more neurotic than menacing, even during that famous prank in which he jams a gun into Martha’s back. But he adopts a quiet kind of cruelty while all too aware of his supposed subservience to a dominant partner, conveying George’s emasculation superbly.

It’s a faithful adaptation, and one that still rings true despite its adherence to the original’s 1960s aesthetic. Much like the fantasist couple’s marriage is one of artifice, the piece exposes the facade of the American nuclear family, brilliantly symbolised by the trickery of that aforementioned revolving stage. History professor George never reached lofty academic heights, always in the shadow of his college president father-in-law, with Martha reminding her husband of his mere “associate professor’s salary.” And Martha and Honey fail to fulfil the roles of motherhood expected and imposed by society – Martha incapable of selfless love and Honey sickly and sans “child-bearing hips”.

This production doesn’t inject anything new into the source material, but it doesn’t have to. It’s an actors’ play; it always has been, and long may it continue to be. Through powerhouse performances, George and Martha’s revulsion permeated the halls of @sohoplace last night. Its intensity will leave audiences drained, but this three-and-a-half-hour slinging match is sublime.

Antonia Georgiou
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Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is at Soho Place until 19^th December 2026. For further information or to book, visit the theatre’s website here.

Watch the trailer for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Soho Place here: