Between Shows

Susan and Douglas share their theater experiences

Friday, May 26, 2006

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Last night Douglas and I saw an excellent production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Palm Beach Dramaworks. We think it's the third time we've seen this play, and we saw the movie with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. I liked this production better than Douglas did. The cast was terrific, especially Gordon McConnell as George. He was a much stronger George than we remembered. There also was practically no humor in this production, and I thought that was fine. I think that in the end George and Martha will live without their illusions, and I wonder about that ending because I find illusions very helpful in day-to-day existence. I need to add that I question whether they really can exist without illusions. This is of course some of the best dialogue that exists, and there's no denying that Albee is a genius. Martha did not look attractive as Elizabeth Taylor was, and Elizabeth Ashley in a previous production, and that added an interesting, valuable twist. This is such a valuable piece of drama, but I choose not to sit through it too often.