“El amor es ciego – pero la matrimonia devuelve la vista.”
This Spanish proverb, translated loosely as “Love is blind – but marriage restores one’s vision” has perhaps never been more aptly illustrated than in the dysfunctional union of George and Martha, the main characters in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The latest revival of Albee’s Tony-award winning classic has arrived at the Ahmanson after highly successful runs in London and New York, buoyed in no small measure by compelling performances from leads Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin as the mercilessly dueling husband and wife. However, the real star of the show is Albee’s ferocious script, which still crackles with relevance forty-five years after its premiere in 1962.
The austere set – with its traditional furniture, bookcase-lined walls, record collection, and dignified if slightly well-worn bar, immediately lets the audience know that this is a house inhabited by academics. It is here that George, a history professor, is in his element, shuffling back and forth from the couch to the bar in vest and tie. Martha, on the other hand, looms grand and restless in the stodgy parlor and demands an incessant infusion of gin in order to even tolerate the place. The light sparring begins from the moment the curtain is raised – but when a young, newly married couple arrives and the first of countless rounds of booze is poured, the party truly begins and the hosts descend upon the guests like wolves on the flock.
Both Turner and Irwin are right at home in the roles they played on Broadway and in London’s West End, and they attack the material with gusto. Turner is ideally cast as the bombastic, imperious, gin-swilling Martha. She brings a powerful physicality to the role that makes it hard to take your eyes off of her whenever she storms into the room.
Irwin plays her punching bag George with appropriate meagerness but also a sardonic edge that gives his acerbic retorts genuine bite. Their scenes together are the strongest in the play, and when one or the other is absent from the stage the piece sags. This is in no way a slight to the fine work of David Furr (Nick) and Kathleen Early (Honey,) who ably carry their weight as the young couple that George and Martha use as pawns against each other, but rather a reflection of the script’s design. No one is a match for Martha but George, and she for him. Watching Martha toy with Nick is about as entertaining as watching a cobra stalk a field mouse – it’s got a certain sadistic appeal, but it’s over all too quickly. It’s when George and Martha go toe-to-toe that the dialogue really sizzles.
But they aren’t all nasty – that would be too easy. It is a testament to George and Martha’s respective charisma that Nick and Honey stay captivated (or is it captive?) in their living room until sunrise – often huddled together for protection against their hosts’ unrelenting onslaughts upon one another – until the all clear is given and the game is over. Once they’ve gone and it’s just the audience there with George and Martha, we too must be good guests by picking up our coats and hats and leaving the two of them alone as ever.
Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Avenue, through March 18. (213) 972-7211
