Review: WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF at The Lantern Theatre

The Community Arts Association of Conway or otherwise known as The Lantern Theatre has been tackling the classics here lately, and this time they presented WHO’S AFRAID OF Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee during my birthday weekend, May 24-26, in the Reeves Recital Hall on the gorgeous Hendrix campus. This four-person cast brought the fire to the stage in what the Director Dr. Wayne Stengel referred to as “maybe the greatest play in American literature.” Though I am not qualified to agree or disagree with that statement, I will say that the passion was felt, and the complexities of this play had us all having some serious discussions after we left the theatre.  

This was my first introduction to this piece of work, so for those like me, here is a brief synopsis. George (Jeff Ward), a history professor at New Carthage University, and Martha (Jessica Miller), daughter of the President of the school, have been married for quite a while and have a volatile marriage. After a faculty party, Martha’s father encouraged the couple to entertain Nick (Saxon Whitehead), a new faculty member in the math department, and his wife Honey (Darby Lytle). During this private social gathering, George and Martha openly discuss their discontent in front of their guests and makes the whole evening awkward. Martha talks about George’s failures, George talks about how Martha sleeps around the school. Everyone gets way too drunk, Honey passes out in the bathroom, Martha and Nick attempt to hook up, and the knowledge that both women are infertile and don’t actually have children is the big shocking reveal of the night. It’s a crazy, emotional night and whether either marriage lasts beyond that is questionable.  

Dr. Stengel noted in his speech before the show, that “when it opened on Broadway in 1962, it wildly divided critics between those who found it vulgar and perverse, morbid and depressing, like some unruly vagrant suddenly camped out in the sanitized scrolls of Broadway, and a few more discriminating critics who quickly recognized the considerable artistic stature of the play and all these unmatched player for dramatic poetry. Still, all these stalwart producers, Richard Barr and Clinton Wilder, who mounted 17 of Albee’s plays throughout his topsy turvy career, loyally stood by their production. They soldiered on with this difficult play through the nights with no box and many empty seats. Eventually, word of mouth triumphs and the play finally gained an audience and ran for two full seasons and 664 performances.” He went on to say that, “Whatever the play is, it is an often hilarious- I did say hilarious- dissection of marriage and sexuality, the crisis of masculinity at the height of the Cold War of America, and above all, a depiction of the increasing insanity of an American world that has become as imaginary as real, with particular attention to the devastations these delusions inflict on women in our society. Still, this play must be funny before it can ever be sad.” 

It was, indeed, funny and sad at the same time. According to Dr. Stengel, Albee told an irritating student once that the characters were “George and Martha Washington, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf evokes the decline of the American empire.” Ok, well that was a little too deep for me to grasp. To be clear, neither I nor my plus one were English majors, so our thoughts will more than likely not follow a scholarly approach. 

 So, during my discussion with my writing partner, we both had two different opinions on this play. I said that though I loved the character work between the actors, I do not find it pleasant to watch a marriage get shredded to pieces. People arguing for over two hours is a lot. My friend, however, said he didn’t see it that way. In his head, it was more of a BDSM type marriage. He said that Martha was the dominant and George was submissive, and their marriage was working out fine. He went on to defend his statement saying that the play supports this idea because at the end, Martha breaks down, lays her head on George’s shoulder, and he comforts her assuring her that everything is going to be ok. In conclusion, they both like their marriage this way, and it works for them.    

This play has a lot of words.....A LOT OF WORDS. Still, the actors carried the show, adding more and more intensity as the night progressed. Jeff Ward is always so compelling to watch. His method of acting embodies his character so much so that we can see his blood pressure rise through the coloring of his face and bulging veins in his head. He is considerate of the other characters and keeps the show going, even during the lull moments. He had great angsty chemistry with Jessica Miller’s Martha and seemed compassionate with his guests, well, at first anyway.  

Miller’s character was aggressive from the beginning. She was bolstering, flirty, and mean most of the time. Miller had to keep the intrusive energy going for the entirety of the play, which was really impressive.  

Lytle and Whitehead’s characters had to hang on for dear life. Lytle’s Honey was a perfect meeker female who tried to stay prim and proper until she got too drunk. Whitehead’s Nick morphed from a newbie, appreciative colleague to a looser man entrapped in their world. By the end, they were both completely changed and ready for the worst. Again, it was all sad and funny at the same time.  

Before the show Lantern Board President Trent Reese introduced himself and shamelessly pleaded for money. "This is the Lantern Theatre's 50th season, and we could not do what we do without all of you in the audience. So, thank you all so, so much for the 50 years. We do have some 50th anniversary merchandise available.”  

The Lantern has some summer things lined up. For more information on what’s to come from this fabulous theatre troupe, visit their website at https://www.conwaylanterntheatre.org. 

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