Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Edward Albee’s play *Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?* premiered on stage in October 1962. It centers on the troubled marriage of George and Martha, a middle-aged couple. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they bring home a younger couple, Nick and Honey, and drag them into their bitter, frustrated dynamic. The play runs just under three hours, including two ten-minute intermissions. Its title is a twist on the song “Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?” from Disney’s *Three Little Pigs* (1933), swapping in the name of writer Virginia Woolf; Martha and George sing this version repeatedly. The work won both the 1963 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1962–1963 New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play, and it is often revived. A 1966 film adaptation, written by Ernest Lehman and directed by Mike Nichols, starred Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, George Segal, and Sandy Dennis.

The play unfolds in three acts. In Act One, “Fun and Games,” George is an associate professor of history; Martha is the daughter of the college president. After returning from a faculty party, Martha reveals she invited a young married couple she met there. (In the definitive edition, a line is cut where George warns Martha about “the bit with the kid” just before the couple arrives.) When Nick and Honey show up, Martha and George trade scathing verbal abuse in front of them, embarrassing the younger pair, who stay anyway. Honey mentions that Martha told her about their son, unsettling George. Martha then recounts how she humiliated George with a sucker punch at a backyard party, and George disappears. He returns with a rifle and fires at Martha, but a Chinese parasol pops out. Everyone laughs, but Martha soon resumes taunting, calling George a “great big fat flop” for lacking ambition. George breaks a bottle, and Honey, drunk, runs to vomit.

Act Two, “Walpurgisnacht,” begins with Nick finding George alone. George learns that Honey once had a “hysterical pregnancy.” George tells Nick about a boarding school friend who accidentally killed his mother with a gun, was mocked for ordering “bergin” (bourbon), then later swerved to avoid a porcupine while driving with his father, killing him too; the friend ended up mute in an asylum. After Martha and Honey return, music plays. Martha dances sensually with Nick, telling another story about George’s failed novel—about a boy who accidentally killed both parents, implying murder—which Martha’s father blocked from publication. George attacks Martha, but Nick separates them. George then starts “Get the Guests,” a game where he tells a thinly veiled story about Honey’s alcoholism and hysterical pregnancy, suggesting she trapped Nick into marriage. Honey runs to vomit again. Martha openly seduces Nick in the living room while George pretends to read. When George does nothing, Martha goes upstairs with Nick. George throws his book at the doorbell chimes, promising to make Martha “regret this.” (In some productions until 2006, Honey returns and George interrogates her about her pregnancy, then says he’ll tell Martha their son died; a 2006 revision cuts this scene.)

In Act Three, “The Exorcism,” Martha enters an empty room and calls for the others. Nick joins her. George arrives with snapdragons, making literary jokes Martha seems to enjoy. They argue about whether the moon is up—a game whose metaphors reveal Nick was too drunk for sex. George asks Nick to bring Honey back for “Bringing Up Baby.” George then speaks openly about Martha and their son, accusing her of being overbearing. When Martha protests, George asks for her “recitation.” She agrees, recalling their son’s beauty and talents, and accuses George of...