Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin, who star in the new Broadway production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, were interviewed on Theater Talk on Friday night. I’d been meaning to see the play since it opened to excellent reviews last month, and after watching Turner and Irwin on TV, I decided to get my ass in gear and get a ticket. So I went to BroadwayBox.com yesterday afternoon and managed to find a great seat for today’s matinee: fifth row center. (Someone must have cancelled.) Matt had a meeting, but he said he wouldn’t mind if I went by myself.
So I went, and I had a great time. There was a man sitting right in front of me with a big head, but it didn’t block much; I rarely had to tilt my head to look around him. Turner and Irwin were both terrific, and the two supporting cast members were great, too (particularly Mireille Enos as Honey). And what a fantastic set.
Just last year I saw the movie for the first time, but the movie cuts a lot from the play. Today was the first time I’d seen the play, and I prefer the play. My favorite plays are those with a small number of characters — I just find them more efficient, and you get to know the characters better. And this is a real writer’s play. Such wonderful dialogue.
There appear to be tickets available on TKTS. If you love a good play, see this one.
i saw it on Thursday and thought it was just a terrific production. It’s nice to know Bill Irwin is just as good in a speaking role as a non-speaking role, as well. I too thought the set was perfect: kind of sleazy, kind of shabby, and very college professor. That John Lee Beatty is a genius. Now I have to get all my friends to come see it.
I saw the original production (yes I’m that old !) and have committed the entire play to memory — as every gay man should.
“I am the Earth Mother and you’re all flops!”
Incidentally, while Albee’s enemies (and they are legion) always claimed that George and Martha were based on himself and his late boyfriend William Flannagan, the models were actually two experimental filmmakers and academics — Marie Menken and Willard Maas.