EDWARD ALBEE’S Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? celebrates a 60th anniversary production in South Africa, presented by Gloucester Productions. It runs at Pieter Toerien’s Theatre On The Bay from September 16 to October 8, 2022. Performances are every Tuesday to Saturday at 8pm, and a Saturday matinee at 4pm.
Regarded by many as one of the more powerful explorations of relationship dynamics, Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? will be directed by Sylvaine Strike (Fleur Du Cap Best Director for Endgame). The cast is Alan Committie (Fleur Du Cap Best Actor for Richard III), Robyn Scott (Fleur Du Cap Best Actress for Elizabeth: Almost A Woman), with Sanda Shandu (Fleur Du Cap Best Supporting Actor for King Kong) and Berenice Barbier (making her professional stage debut).
Back in 1962, audiences and critics alike could not get enough of Albee’s masterful play. A dark comedy, it portrays husband and wife George and Martha in a searing night of dangerous fun and games with a younger couple, Nick and Honey, who get caught up in the battle. By the evening’s end, a stunning, almost unbearable revelation provides a climax that has shocked audiences for years. With the play’s razor-sharp dialogue, witty and hilarious scenarios and the stripping away of social pretence it has been described as “a brilliantly original work of art, surging with shocks of recognition and dramatic fire” (Newsweek).
“On the auspicious occasion of its 60th anniversary, directing Edward Albee’s extraordinary Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? feels like an electrifying rite of passage, and I am both humbled and thrilled!” says Strike. “This superbly penned dark comedy is a beast, a timeless classic that plays out over the length of a single evening during which bourbon and brandy are consumed in vast quantities by its four protagonists.
“Mischievous mind games are only the tip of the liquor-fuelled iceberg leaving the audience no option but to ride its deliciously wild rollercoaster of hilarity, cruelty and madness. I am so excited to be working with an absolutely luminous cast. The iconic roles of the evening’s hosts George and Martha played by the two formidable theatrical forces that are Alan Committie and Robyn Scott, and introducing the terrific Sanda Shandu and Berenice Barbier in the roles of their innocent guests, Nick and Honey.”
- The production carries a suggested age appropriate restriction of no under-13s.
- The show is designed by Wolf Britz (Fleur du Cap Best Lighting Design for Valsrivier).
- Ticket prices: rows A, K and CC R180, rows B – J and AA – BB R250
- Special subscriber price: R125
- Moira Lister & Bill Flynn Box (sold in groups of 4): R250 per seat
- Early Bird special or other discounted rates: R180
- Tickets are available through Computicket or by calling the Theatre On The Bay box office 021 438 3300
PHOTOGRAPHY: Martin Kluge
