Theatre
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Edward Albee · 1962
Synopsis
Two in the morning, in New Carthage, a small university town in New England. George, a forty-six-year-old history professor, and his wife Martha, daughter of the university president, come home drunk from a reception. Martha has invited Nick, a young biology professor, and his wife Honey, for a last drink. The night passes in cruel games that George names: humiliating the host, going after the guests. Martha has told Honey about their son, who is to celebrate his twenty-first birthday the next day, which George reproaches her for.
Context
The title is a twist on a Disney song about the big bad wolf: its author had seen the phrase written in soap on the mirror of a New York bar, and said it meant who is afraid of living without false illusions. Premiered on 13 October 1962 at the Billy Rose Theatre and directed by Alan Schneider, the play ran for 664 performances. The Pulitzer Prize jury chose it; the prize board, judging it obscene, rejected it, so that no play was awarded the prize in 1963. The two jurors, John Mason Brown and John Gassner, resigned. Mike Nichols made a film of it in 1966.
Who it is for
Three acts, about three hours, a single set and four characters. The verbal violence is continuous. Translated into French by Daniel Loayza in 2012.
Prizes and reception
Prize of the New York critics' circle and five Tonys in 1963, and a refused Pulitzer Prize that made more noise than if it had been awarded.
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