Steve Trovillion and Cate Damon as George and Martha finally facing the truth in Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Photos by Jason Nuttle Photography)
By Britin Haller
Anyone not already familiar with the three-act play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee had better hold onto their seat because it’s a bumpy ride indeed. The intimate space in the Maltz Jupiter Theatre is ideal for this fishbowl dramady, where nothing is as it seems. Andrew Kato, Producing Artistic Director/Chief Executive of the Maltz, is known for his masterclasses, and this flawless production is no exception.
It’s sometime in the 1960s in New England, and we open on a middle-aged couple, George and Martha, returning from a faculty party at the university that Martha’s dad founded, and where she has spent most of her life.
They have even lived on the campus for their twenty-three years of marriage in a historic house her “daddy” provides for them. “Martha’s father wants his staff to cling to the walls like the ivy,” George tells us. But all is not well here, and this is not a happy place, rather an insane asylum masquerading as a home.
Because together, George and Martha are two of the most dysfunctional characters to ever grace a stage. They might as well be serving Molotov cocktails from their bar cart instead of bourbon and brandy. “Daddy said we should be nice to them,” Martha tells George right before some unsuspecting guests arrive for drinks.
We learn a bit about Martha and George’s background, and their relationship now, before company comes in the form of a handsome new faculty member and his attractive wife. Their names are Nick and Honey, but for some reason, Nick’s name is literally never said aloud, and we never learn if her real name is Honey, or if that’s just a term of endearment Nick has for her, one that George and Martha use for their sick benefit.
At first glance, Nick and Honey appear as a young, idealistic couple who want nothing more than for him to succeed in his new position as a biology professor, but as Martha and George’s dysfunction pull away Nick and Honey’s layers, we learn they have secrets of their own, maybe not as many as the older couple, but they could be well on their way.
Cate Damon
Because what Nick and Honey don’t know is that they have just stepped into a hornet’s nest that will envelope them and sting them over and over until finally daylight breaks, the insanity takes a pause, and they are able to finally make their escape. But there’s no doubt the welts from this night will remain on their skin, possibly forever. Because simply put, if George and Martha can’t be happy, then no one can.
As Martha, the ultimate “Gold Dust Woman,” who could shatter anyone’s illusions of love, Cate Damon returns to a role she has performed elsewhere, that of George’s alcoholic shrew of a wife. (Shakespeare fans will recognize George and Martha arguing about whether the moon is up or not.) But before their night is over, we realize that underneath the surface of this monster (as George calls her) who is quick with the barbs and the put-downs, lies a human being so miserable that she just can’t help but pass it on. And so, when in those final quiet moments, Damon gives us a creature to simply be pitied, we marvel at her skill.
Michael Shenefelt is the new instructor on campus who thinks he’s slick, but isn’t. Life has probably always come easy for the good-looking, charming Nick who likely believes he’s the smartest person in any room. But Nick has no idea he’s just a shiny new toy for George, and especially Martha, to play with. Because he has no real emotional depth, he also has no real character arc, and is the one who changes the least, if at all, by night’s end. But even still, there appear to be moments where Nick gets it, and Shenefelt portrays the confusion well.
Gracie Winchester is Honey, who by outside appearances looks and acts like Goldie Hawn, but as the evening wears on her, we learn how much pain Honey is really holding deep inside. Sandy Dennis won an Oscar for this role in the film version, thereby creating huge shoes for Winchester to fill, but fill them she does. Honey is the character who goes through the biggest on-stage transformation, and to watch Winchester give us her own personal masterclass on the build-up is truly remarkable indeed. And how charming to learn that actors Winchester and Shenefelt are a married couple in real life.
Steve Trovillion
But it’s Stephen Trovillion as George, the cuckolded husband who is mad as hell and so not going to take it anymore, who draws us in from his first breath and never lets us go. Over the past two decades, George has been so browbeaten we wonder if he can ever recover. Trovillion is not an actor playing George, Trovillion is George. We hung onto Trovillion’s every word, realizing we were seeing a master of his craft at work, and not wanting it to end despite the three-hour runtime. A former Carbonell Award nominee, perhaps this is Trovillion’s year to win.
Albee skillfully created business meant to maneuver each character on and off-stage at varying intervals to allow different interactions between the foursome, sometimes Honey and George, sometimes Martha and Nick, sometimes Nick and George, and so on. A bit in Act II, when George says that “the Mouse” (his nickname for Honey) got “all puffed up,” exposes a point of contention between Nick and Honey that they have both tried to forget. “You’re going to regret this,” Nick tells George. “Probably,” George replies. “I regret everything.” Everything about this scene, from the blocking to the acting, is sheer perfection.
In a cast of four in a small venue, it’s easy to find a weak link. Not here. All four actors understand their assignment and leave nothing on the table. They are nothing more than mice in a maze, and we are the biology professor studying them. Unfortunately, there are no real lessons, whether scientific or otherwise, to be gleaned here.
Sounding somewhat like the Ghost Host at Disney’s Haunted Mansion, Director J. Barry Lewis’s voice opens the show with a welcome and puts us in the mood. Lewis, both a Carbonell and Silver Palm Award-winner, is like a black widow spider who returns again and again to the Maltz to do what he does best, weave a superb web of suspicion and doubt for his unsuspecting prey, the audience.
Scenic Designer Anne Mundell has worked with Lewis at the Maltz several times before and has a Carbonell Award of her own. Here, Mundell has created a living room for George and Martha indicative of their own lives, full of clutter yes, but still a space longing to be straightened and made right. Even the encyclopedias are disheveled.
Melissa Katherine Collins and Fiona Marty manage the chaos, and there’s a lot of chaos, thankfully all on stage, although scene changes are easy because there aren’t any, rather the action picks right back up where it left off.
Lighting design by Kirk Bookman, whose impressive resume mentions working with Broadway’s THEE Charles Busch, and sound design by Ernesto K. Gonzalez is minimal and effective. Costumes by Kelly Wilkinson, and wigs from Kelso Millet, are appropriate to the 1960s decade including traditional elbow patches for a college professor, and a Britt Ekland-style headband and bangs look for Honey.
Due to the physicality and the aggressiveness between all of the characters at one point or another, Lewis called on Lauren DeLeon to work with the cast on intimacy, and Lee Soroko to choreograph the moves. Likely, they worked in conjunction at times, like when Nick is dance-humping, yes humping, Martha in front of his wife Honey, and Martha’s husband George.
With good reason, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is considered an American masterpiece. It first opened on Broadway in 1962, earning five Tony Awards including Best Play, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award, and was supposed to win the Pulitzer that year, but was ultimately denied by an advisory board due to what was considered its problematic nature. So instead, a Pulitzer Award in the category of drama was withheld that year. Since then, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has seen a Broadway revival three times, most recently in 2012, racking up more Tonys along the way, proving that a great script never goes out of style.
If we had to sum up the theme of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in one word, it would be pain. The pain of unattainable dreams, the pain of betrayal, the pain of loss, whether real or perceived. The glass thrown by George is not the only thing shattered. Illusions and dreams are as well.
But even still, and there are likely critics and fans of Albee who would argue this point, we choose to believe that George and Martha are getting a happy ending, because they are insane, yes, but in a good way. Somehow through it all, there is still real affection for each other there.
It is fitting that the title refers to the real Virginia Woolf, an English novelist of the 20th century who practiced stream of consciousness, and preferred to live her life free of illusions as much as possible, including her own death by suicide at the age of 59. Edward Albee requested permission to use Virginia’s name from her widower, Leonard Woolf, who even attended a London performance, and according to sources, very much enjoyed it.
So if you want to see four thespians, and we do mean true thespians at work, go quickly, because this is a play that once you know the ending, you’ll want to see again just to pick up on all the nuances and clues you missed the first time.
A slight warning to anyone prone to anxiety, this show hits the ground running and never lets up. There is a lot packed into three hours. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is definitely not for the faint of heart.
Britin Haller is a mystery author and an editor for Turner Publishing. Her recent short story “So Many Shores in Crookland” can be read in the 150th issue of Black Cat Weekly. Britin’s latest edit, a cozy mystery novel called Dumpster Dying is by Michelle Bennington and available where books are sold. Find Britin across social media.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? plays through May 4 at The Island Theatre at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Shows are nightly Tues-Fri @ 7:30 p.m. and Sat @ 8 p.m. Wed, Sat and Sun matinees at 2 p.m. Limited tickets still available. Running time approx. 180 minutes with two 10-minute intermissions. To purchase tickets visit their website at: www.jupitertheatre.org, call: (561) 575-2223, or stop by the Box office located at 1001 Indiantown Rd., Jupiter, FL (immediately east of A1A), between the hours of 10am-6pm Mon-Fri and Saturdays from 10am-2pm. Tickets start at $65.
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