Tina Packer Headlines 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?                                                                

By Edward Albee

Director, Diego Arciniegas; Stage Management, Nerys Powell; Production Management & Sound Design, John Doerschuk; Costume Design, Susanne Nitter; Lighting Design, Kenneth Helvig; Set Design, Dahlia Al-Habieli                                  

CAST: Tina Packer, Martha; Nigel Gore, George; Angie Jepson, Honey; Kevin Kaine,Nick                                                                                                                         Performances through October 24 at Publick Theatre at the Plaza Theatre at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, Boston’s South End                             

Box Office 617-933-8600 or www.bostontheatrescene.com

After all the drama of whether or not the show would go on, go on it did… and in grand style. Faced with last-minute licensing issues, the Publick Theatre Boston production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? received permission to open on schedule with the proviso that a program insert state that it was not approved by the playwright Edward Albee. However, within moments of the actors taking the stage, the caliber of their performances and the intensity of the play under the direction of Diego Arciniegas swept away The Remains of the nasty business beyond the fourth wall.

Speaking of nasty business, Albee posits that marriage is one, and he proceeds to make his point with crackling verbiage, more snide comments than heard on right wing talk radio, and near knockdown, drag out skirmishes that leave the characters and the audience spent. In three acts over the course of three hours, we observe the bilateral torment of George and Martha and their systematic dissection of each others’ psyches, as well as their masterful gamesmanship in their ability to use their young guests Nick and Honey as both pawns and weapons. As the alcohol flows and the late night party devolves into a war of words and wits, defenses are destroyed and the marital secrets of both couples are painfully revealed.

Arciniegas and his cast succeed in making the audience feel the discomfort, as well. They elicit the many laughs that lie in wait in the nooks and crannies of Albee’s script, but the comedy is more often biting and brittle than all in good fun. Some of the humor comes from recognizing the antics of the hostess from hell who is hot to trot, or the simple, good girl who can’t hold her liquor but is willing to try to keep up with the pros for the sake of the party. To say that Virginia Woolf is a dark comedy is overly simplistic, as well as an understatement. It is gut-wrenching and even, at times, silly, but mostly it is a powerful and compelling look at the human condition, written with laser-like precision by one of America’s foremost modern playwrights.  

Tina Packer is a powerhouse in the role of Martha. She starts off all sweetness and light, but quickly gets in touch with her inner Venus flytrap. Whether she is on the attack, playing the coquette, or regressing to Daddy’s little girl, Packer portrays every side of Martha with equal conviction. She can go from being incredibly vile one minute to evoking heartfelt sympathy the next, and convincingly changes her demeanor on a dime. When she challenges George, Packer’s talent conveys the love and thirst for approval hidden within the taunts. On the other side of this complex relationship, Nigel Gore stands in as George with an interpretation of the role very different from others I’ve seen. Gore’s George is stronger and more self-assured, his outbursts more angry than hurt. While he is the cuckold, he does not allow it to define him, choosing instead to look the other way when he walks in on Martha necking with Nick. He frequently sits in the driver’s seat, weaving his way in and around the weaknesses of the others. In the final “game” of the evening, George is in total control, yet Gore communicates the mélange of feelings he has about what he is doing in that ultimate match.

Kevin Kaine makes Nick a formidable sparring partner without eliminating his necessary flaws. He exudes self-confidence even as he tries to be polite and deferential to the hosts. The challenge of his role is to maintain that mask until just the right moment when Albee wants us to know his ambition and his dark side, and Kaine does it well. He has good chemistry with Angie Jepson as his wife Honey and she works hard to flesh out the least developed character in the foursome. She is offstage in the bathroom being sick for long stretches of time and, when she is present, lies around reacting to the others or dances maniacally by herself or with George.  

Dahlia Al-Habieli has designed an attractive set that includes two seating areas downstage, a platform foyer flanked by two exits center stage, a wall of bookshelves with a bar, and a hall leading to an exit stage left. Arciniegas effectively uses all areas of the stage and is able to spread out the action so that each segment of the audience gets played to at different times. Lighting changes are meant to highlight some of the one-on-one conversations, but they are distracting. Producing Director Susanne Nitter assumes the role of Costume Designer for the second time and acquits herself well. Martha wears a leopard print, low-cut blouse, as if to foreshadow her animalistic tendencies, and Nitter virtually defines Honey by her vanilla attire: a white cardigan buttoned over a flared-skirt floral dress, hair pulled back by a white headband, pearls, and a white clutch. Nick’s conservative gray suit with pocket square is in contrast to George’s comfortable cardigan sweater and khakis.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was Albee’s first full-length play and his first to appear on Broadway. It opened on October 13, 1962 and ran for 664 performances, garnering numerous awards, including the Tony Award for Best Play. Nearly five decades later, it still packs a wallop, even if it is less controversial than when first produced. Although the play was selected by the drama jury for the 1963 Pulitzer Prize, the trustees objected to the profanity and sexual themes and overruled the committee, choosing not to make the award for drama that year. The Publick Theatre Boston focuses on staging language-driven works and arguably could not have chosen a better play for encouraging its audiences to “experience the power of the spoken word.”   This production is a tribute to their mission.

Photo Credit: Carolle Photography