Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Written by Edward Albee, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a very dark and wonderfully thrilling play, written in three Acts, and is now a major motion picture starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. 

When a younger couple joins middle-aged Martha and her husband George for late night, after-party drinks, it proves to be a night that neither side will forget. Whilst the drinks keep refilling, the partygoers shut themselves in for a night of drunken recriminations and revelations. Battle lines are drawn, war tactics are taken, and soon Martha and George drag their guests into their own private hell of a marriage. 

I will be the first to admit that I prefer novels rather than plays. Generally, I find the stage references, the asides, the jargon, and the general setup. I don’t know, breaks the free flow that happens when you’re reading. Having literally gotten through Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in a record time of three hours though, I stand with my mind changed. 

Albee’s portrayal of a really terrible marriage is highly engaging and I found this book to be so vivid and enticing, and darkly disturbing that I could not bring myself to put it down. 

It’s language is blunt and can be quite brutal at times, which is perfect for setting the dramatic and sinister atmosphere of the whole thing. I found that Albee’s use of simple and modern language went hand in hand with the darker story and the drama that ensued. 

The book harbours vivid images of anger, sickness, violence, and tortured souls, underlining these things with a brilliant tone of savage and black comedy, which is inherent in the dialogue that the characters use. 

Filled with violence, drama, madness, and dark comedy, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a wonderfully dark and savagely funny play that will have you completely entranced from page one!