Preview
WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?
Alberta Theatre Projects
Starring Valerie Ann Pearson, Brian Dooley, Ryan Luhning and Kira Bradley
Written by Edward Albee
Directed by Bob White
Runs October 14 to November 1
Martha Cohen Theatre (Epcor Centre)
Valerie Ann Pearson calls it "one of the greatest love stories of all time."
Romeo and Juliet? Kate and Leo in Titanic?
No – George and Martha in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Is she kidding? George and Martha? The boozing, battling, middle-aged couple who treat marriage like a blood sport?
That’s right. Pearson, who stars as Martha in the Alberta Theatre Projects (ATP) revival of Edward Albee’s masterpiece, believes that the couple’s savage verbal sparring grows out of a "tremendous" love and need for each other.
The play (which, for the unfamiliar, has nothing to do with the British novelist Virginia Woolf) unfolds during a long, wild night of drinking and party games at the home of George, a burnt-out college history professor, and Martha, the bitchy daughter of the college president. The drinking is prodigious and the games are brutal, aimed at exposing the vulnerabilities of the hosts and especially of their two unwary young guests – Nick, an eager new faculty member, and his timid wife Honey.
As they move from playing Get the Guests to Hump the Hostess and Humiliate the Host, all their weaknesses and insecurities are revealed, while George and Martha hurl razor-sharp insults at each other like a pair of champion knife-throwers.
"There’s no question about how vicious they are," says Pearson. "I’ve been married for 35 years and I can’t imagine saying to Pat (her husband) even a quarter of the kinds of things that Martha says to George. Her remarks really cut to the bone.
"But I think it comes from her disappointment in him, her desire for him to be a success," she explains. "And I think he puts up with her infidelity and vulgar language because he loves her tremendously. I think the play ends hopefully."
Virginia Woolf exploded like a bombshell on Broadway in 1962, with the great actor and acting teacher Uta Hagen originating the role of Martha. The famous 1966 film version starred Elizabeth Taylor, who gave arguably the finest performance of her career and won an Academy Award.
A year later, Pearson, then a 20-year-old student at the University of Calgary, first encountered the script in a theatre criticism course. "I just fell in love with it," she recalls. "I just thought it was the most amazing play, with so many layers to it."
She’s wanted to play Martha ever since – understandably, since the character is one of the strongest female roles in modern theatre. "She’s powerful physically, vocally and, particularly, mentally – she’s an equal adversary to her husband," says Pearson. "Theirs is a real battle of wits."
A few years ago, Pearson told ATP artistic director Bob White of her desire to tackle the part, but, as she recalls, he just laughed and said, "That’s not in my theatre’s mandate. You can forget about it." Then, this spring, White invited her to visit his office. "He picked up this script and threw it down in front of me. It was Virginia Woolf. I just about collapsed. He said, ‘I’ve always wanted to direct this play, and I’ve looked through our mandate and I think we can do it.’"
By rights, Theatre Calgary, the company dedicated to the classics, is the place for Albee’s 40-year-old drama. But Pearson says that, despite its age, Virginia Woolf is the kind of edgy fare ATP is famous for. "It has this wonderful, dark humour in it. If you’ve only seen the film, you may not realize how funny the play is. It’s got these great zingers and put-downs."
One thing audiences need to know is that, by ATP standards, this is a long show. The play is in three acts and the notoriously difficult American playwright, who exercises an iron control over his work, won’t allow it to be cut. "Albee is particularly protective of this script," says Pearson. "You also have to have permission from him personally for the casting."
He’s given the stamp of approval to Pearson and fellow Calgary actors Ryan Luhning and Kira Bradley, who play Nick and Honey, and Edmonton’s Brian Dooley, who co-stars as George.
As well as fulfilling a personal dream, playing Martha promises to be a career milestone for Pearson, whose professional acting career stretches back to 1979 and includes close to 30 shows with ATP, as well as countless others in Calgary and Edmonton. Her powerful lead performance in ATP’s popular 1998 production of Margaret Laurence’s The Stone Angel suggests she’s more than up to the task. But she’s not thinking about that.
"I’ve wanted to do Virginia Woolf for so long that I had to have a little chat with myself about how this was just another play and another character, and it’s no more important than anything else I’d be doing," she says. "I don’t want that extra pressure – I just want to do it." |
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