I’ll admit it: as I walked into The Island Theatre at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, maybe I was a little afraid of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? After all, I had already heard so much about this snappy, sharp-edged exploration of the facades people put forth—both to those around them, and sometimes even to themselves. The award-winning 1962 play, penned by Edward Albee and directed here by J. Barry Lewis, has received critical acclaim spanning decades. The story has even inspired multiple stage adaptations, as well as a 1966 film adaptation starring a real-life married couple who certainly knew a thing or two about tumultuous relationships themselves—Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. All of this is to say, I wondered whether Virginia Woolf would live up to everything I had heard about, whether I would enjoy it as much as so many other theatergoers have. Needless to say, I had nothing to fear—The Island Theatre’s production of this iconic play had me utterly captivated from the very first line!
I won’t give too much away, so as not to lessen the full impact of the story, but if you’ve yet to see it for yourself, you might want to know a little about what to expect. Set in the fictional New England college town of New Carthage, the play centers on longtime couple George (Stephen Trovillion), an associate professor of history, and Martha (Cate Damon), the daughter of the school’s president. Late one night, after returning home from a faculty party, Martha announces that she has invited a young couple from the party, Nick (Michael Shenefelt) and Honey (Gracie Winchester), over for a drink. What follows is a night of fun and games, and ultimately an excavation of the secrets people hide from each other, the illusions they devise in order to survive, the complexities of marriage, the perils of trying to adhere to society’s expectations, and the ups and downs of longing for ambition and success.
The cast is small, consisting of only four actors, which allows for more character development and exploration of each individual. Cate Damon is fantastic as the boisterous, bold Martha, a character constantly grappling with her identity and place in society. She uses her father’s high-ranking role of college president to her advantage, yet she also feels trapped under his influence, unable to fully harness her own power. She loves George, yet she’s also resentful of him. She attempts to maintain her self-worth and agency in a society that is often set on not granting her those things. Stephen Trovillion captures George’s role as someone who is largely inert—he’s content with his job at the university, although he doesn’t hold too much leverage; he’s content in his marriage to Martha, although their relationship is mercurial and turbulent more often than not. Nonetheless, eventually something has to change, and Trovillion’s command of George’s dark, passive-aggressive humor underscores the character’s underlying emotional turmoil. Michael Shenefelt and Gracie Winchester, husband and wife both onstage and offstage, similarly shine as Nick and Honey. Shenefelt embodies the “newness” of Nick’s character and the threat he poses to George in many ways—he is a professor of a more modern subject, biology, as opposed to George’s history; he’s younger, fitter. He’s more driven and perceptive than he lets on, as the audience slowly learns throughout the play, thanks to the nuances of Shenefelt’s performance. And Winchester makes the audience laugh as Honey, yet she also highlights the fact that there’s more to the character than meets the eye. Honey is clearly carrying some weighty burdens, and she, like the others, is also trying to hide from reality in her own way.
The overall ambiance of The Island Theatre, in my opinion, strongly enhances the entire experience! The Maltz’s brand-new black box, currently concluding its first season with Virginia Woolf, is the perfect place to house the coziness and clutter evident within the home of a university professor and his wife. This space makes the viewing experience more personal, allowing for the audience to fully take in the subtleties of both the performances and the set, regardless of where one is seated. As the show progresses, the claustrophobic nature of the story is heightened, further enhanced by the clever ways in which the theatre has been utilized. Anne Mundell’s scenic design does not leave a single detail amiss, from the room’s jam-packed bookshelves to its pillowy armchair. Kirk Bookman (lighting designer), Ernesto K. Gonzalez (sound designer), and Kelly Wilkinson (costume designer) should also be recognized for lending greater depth to the atmosphere with their work. Additionally, a show that in large part captures both the attachment and the volatility that can come with marriage would not be possible without the presence of Lauren DeLeon, who serves as the show’s intimacy coordinator, and Lee Soroko, fight director.
