Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Next Stage Theatre Company are delighted to bring this 1962 modern classic to The Mission Theatre with an in-the-round staging under the direction of the company’s Artistic Director Ann Ellison BEM.

George, a middle-aged professor in a small New-England college, and his wife, Martha, stumble home, drunk from a faculty party. Martha announces, amidst general profanity, that she has invited a young couple – opportunistic new professor, Nick, and his shatteringly naïve bride, Honey – to stop by for a nightcap. As the drinks flow and inhibitions melt, it becomes clear that Martha is determined to seduce the young professor, but her husband couldn’t care less.

As the young couple are drawn into a traumatic night of dangerous fun and games it becomes apparent that underneath the edgy banter, which is crossfired between both couples, there lurks an undercurrent of tragedy and despair in the personal Hell that is George and Martha’s marriage. Finally, the root of the couple’s inhuman bitterness towards one another is revealed, providing a stunning, almost unbearable climax that has shocked audiences for years.