Review: Gamm's 'Virginia Woolf' Shows Albee's Classic Still Has Bite

In 1962 a play premiered at the Billy Rose Theatre on Broadway about a middle-aged couple who invite a younger couple to their house for drinks after a university party. The older man teaches at the school, while his wife is the daughter of its president; the younger couple, newbies to this academic institution, join the older couple for what they think will be a pleasant get together. What follows is a harrowing three-act examination of one of the most dysfunctional relationships ever put on stage.

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is the late Edward Albee's most-produced work. It shocked Broadway with its frankness and cutting dialogue, so much so that when the Pulitzer Prize committee initially chose it as Best Drama that year, it reneged at the last minute due to its controversial nature (Albee did win the Tony Award, and later was given Pulitzers for three subsequent works – "A Delicate Balance," "Seascape," and "Three Tall Women"). After a healthy Broadway run, the play was filmed in 1966 with Mike Nichols directing Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, Sandy Dennis and George Segal, with Taylor and Dennis winning Oscars. And it has gone on to notable revivals, including one in 2005 with Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin that used a revised script, which has become the performance script since.

To say that the current Gamm Theatre production (through February 18) packs a wallop is an understatement. Under the direction of longtime Gamm performer Steve Kidd, this is a production that audiences will likely chat about for some time to come.

If you're one that is unfamiliar with either the play or film, it's probably the best way to experience the play fresh. It's a work filled with stinging barbs and subtleties that are here nicely navigated by its four-person cast. Gabrielle MacCauley (Gamm's "Describe the Night") steps up to portray Honey, the wife of Gunnar Manchester's (Gamm's "Ironbound") pretty boy husband, a newcomer to the university Biology department. Both are fantastic: McCauley gives Honey the ethereal wisp of a girl who's not entirely comfortable in her shoes, and Manchester is the confident man who is ready to take on anything, except perhaps the unexpected night of drunken barbs thrown about by his hosts.

Tony Estrella, in dowdy attire and horn-rimmed glasses, embodies the unhappily married academic whose dreams have been dashed one by one; in part because of a wife "braying" at him excessively until he fights back.

And fight back he does. Jeanine Kane's loudly brash Martha makes a sparring partner ready to take anything she hears, which she returns with an even more nasty edge. As Martha, Kane is wonderful, giving a commanding performance that shows she can give as well as take.

Has Albee's play dated in the 60 years since initially written? Perhaps in its references to the Second World War, but for the most part it has a biting freshness that makes it relevant in telling the story of an older couple who have given up on their dreams and found refuge in the bottle. Kudos to Kidd and company for breathing new life into what could be a dated play. "Woolf" still has bite, and you'll not be sorry if you take this fascinating ride.

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" is running through February 18th at The Gamm Theatre, 1245 Jefferson Boulevard, Warwick, RI 02886. For information or tickets call 401-723-4266 or visit www.gammtheatre.org.