Reviewed by Tony Annicone The 39th season of GAMM Theatre continues with their opening show of 2024, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” a 1963 Tony Award-winning Best Play by Edward Albee. The Broadway show opened on October 13, 1962, ran for 664 performances, and became a movie three years later, starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, George Segal, and Sandy Dennis. This play examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening after a university faculty party, they receive a visit from two guests, an unwitting younger couple, Nick and Honey, and they draw them into their bitter and frustrated relationship. George and Martha’s consumption of alcohol during the course of the evening reveals secrets about themselves, with Martha denigrating George as not being able to rise to the position of head of the university, which her father expected him to attain. Martha exclaims “He’s a great big fat flop!” and George’s temper gets the better of him as he smashes a bottle on the floor. Honey runs off to the bathroom in a panic. Tensions escalate, and things get scary as revelations about all of them come tumbling out in comic and dramatic moments that keep your attention all night. Director Steve Kidd casts these four iconic roles marvelously and elicits brilliant performances from his talented cast. His wife, Jessica Hill Kidd, aided him in this task with the magnificent set she created for this show. It’s so realistic that the audience would love to move into it. The splendid 1960s costumes are by David T. Howard, with lighting by Jeff Adelberg and sound by Hunter Spoede. Hardworking stage manager Kelsey Emry keeps things running smoothly.
Just a refresher for the audience on what happens later in this three-act play about the meltdown of a marriage. When Act 2 begins, George interrogates Nick about his past and tells George about how they were childhood friends; her father was a preacher and very rich. Nick also tells him about Honey’s heavy drinking and hysterical pregnancy. Honey wants to calm things down by asking for dance music to soothe her rattled nerves. However, Martha persuades Nick to dance with her, infuriating George and Honey. She runs out of the room as Nick and Martha flirt with each other and go upstairs together. George flings a book at the doorbell chimes and tells Martha that he will make her regret her actions. Act 3 begins as Martha descends the stairs looking for the others, finds Nick, berates him, and then orders him to answer the doorbell. George returns with snapdragons and insists that Martha play the truth versus illusion game, bringing up their son in front of Nick and Honey. He wants to completely humiliate his wife while she tells the young couple that George completely ruined their son’s life. Nick and Honey feel pity for them, and George orders them to leave at last. The audience finds out about George and Martha’s hidden secret, and the play ends with George singing “Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?” with Martha uttering the closing line of the show, which rips your heart out. This show stands the test of time, and director Steve Kidd keeps the audience captivated by their portrayals from start to finish. He brings out the depth in all four characters so the audience can understand their motivations for their actions. The play moves the audience to laughter and tears at all the appropriate moments and wins a well-deserved standing ovation at the show’s close. Bravo.
Leading the cast as Martha and George are Jeanine Kane and Tony Estrella. Jeanine comes on strong as Martha in the first act while hurling barbs at her husband in front of their new spectators as she continues drinking. She is gleeful and sarcastic while cutting down her husband and later flirtatious when she eventually puts the moves on Nick, trying to one-up her husband. Later, Martha sinks into desperation as a broken woman who still yearns to keep her somewhat off-kilter marriage on track. George has hurled the game they play back in her face to bring her back to the reality they have mustered together for all these years. The illusions must melt away lest they destroy both of them. Jeanine delivers a tour de force performance as Martha when she tears George to pieces and runs roughshod over Nick’s escapade together, especially in the last scene with her meltdown and incredible desolation at what George has done to her. Brava.
Tony, as George, is a strong adversary for Martha. He delivers a nuanced performance as this long-suffering husband/son-in-law feels attacked by both his wife and father-in-law for being unable to maintain a leadership position in the university’s history department. During one of her diatribes, he exits the scene to retrieve his rifle to gain some order from the other three characters. This incident is played for laughs, but George finally decides to punish Martha for belittling him with her father and other professors and their wives at the school. George comes across as mean-spirited while raking the other three characters over the coals with his caustic attacks on them. Once again, Tony does a splendid job in this role.
The younger couple, Nick and Honey, are played excellently by Gunnar Manchester and Gabrielle McCauley. Gunnar’s Nick is a biology professor who is 28 years old and yearns to fit in at the school. George grills him about what subject he teaches, how he met his wife, and other very personal questions. Martha eventually puts the moves on the younger man with surprising results. Gunnar displays Nick’s patience with George and Martha’s overbearing behavior until he finally blows up at George and puts him in his place when he physically attacks Martha. He gives the role the depth it needs to stand up to both George and Martha and a caring attitude to protect his wife from their barbs and insults. Gabby gives depth to the role of Honey, who is naive and comes from a wealthy family. Honey loves to drink brandy and is a little ditsy with some of her comments to the older couple. However, Gabby stands by her man during the funny dancing scene as well as during the final revelation at George and Martha’s genuine relationship when she displays Honey’s horror and anguish with it. So, for a beautifully acted and directed powerful theatrical masterpiece, be sure to catch “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” at GAMM Theatre. For tickets, call their box office or go to gammtheatre.org. Hurry to get your tickets before the entire run is sold out. WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF (25 January to 18 February)GAMM Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Blvd, Warwick, RI1(401)723-4266
