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020 – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, by Edward Albee

Feb 11, 2021 | Podcast Episodes | 0 comments

It is 2:00 am, and George and Martha have invited a young couple back to their home on a New England university campus for after-party drinks. What follows is arguably the most extended and vitriolic marital argument ever staged. Over four hours of drunken skirmishing George and Martha tear strips off each other and their young guests, in a terrifying mix of games playing and truth telling, fuelled by anger, shame, disappointment, hatred and possibly even love. As the hostilities intensify both couples are forced to face unvarnished and difficult truths about themselves and their relationships. Who are the survivors of this long night’s journey? Or put another way: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? For this is American playwright Edward Albee’s classic play, with certainly one of the most memorable titles in theatrical history.

The controversial play opened on Broadway in 1962, and it was greeted by both moral outrage – one reviewer labelling it “a sick play for sick people” – as well as critical acclaim: “the most shattering drama since O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night. Both types of review contributed to its run-away box-office success, the play running for 664 performances, and famously attracting the interest of Hollywood, the 1996 film version with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor winning five Academy awards.

Joining me to survey the damage of this blistering marital battle are John Mitchinson and Andy Miller, the co-hosts of the award-winning podcast Backlisted, which as its strap line declares “gives new life to old books”.

020 Bonus – Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf – the film

Along with my guests, John Mitchinson and Andy Miller, I so much enjoyed talking about Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf in the podcast that we went on for much longer than our allotted hour. Our conversation included a brief discussion about the 1966 film of Virginia Woolf starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, which in the interests of time I edited from the original recording. Given the enthusiasm and wisdom of my friends on the subject it seemed a shame to lose this part of the conversation entirely, so here is that extract from our conversation. Please note that this is very much an accompaniment to the main episode about the play.

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/theplaypodcast/The_Play_Podcast_20A.mp3

John Mitchinson

John Mitchinson is a writer and publisher, co-founder of Unbound, the crowdfunding publishing platform for books, and co-host of the award-winning books podcast, Backlisted. He helped create the BBC TV show QI and co-wrote the bestselling series of QI books, including The Book of General Ignorance, which has sold over 2 million copies. Before that he held senior roles in publishing at Harvill and Cassell and was Waterstone’s original marketing director. When he’s not reading, he’s tending to his pigs and bees.

Andy Miller

Andy Miller is a reader, editor and author of books, most recently The Year of Reading Dangerously (4th Estate/HarperPerennial). He has also written books about how much he likes the Kinks and how much he dislikes sport. His work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Times, the Telegraph, the Guardian, the Spectator, Esquire, Mojo and Sight and Sound. He has toured the UK with his motivational lecture ‘Read Y’self Fitter’ and appears regularly on BBC Radio programmes such as The Verb (R3), The Museum of Curiosity (R4) and Open Book (R4).

The Texts

If you are interested in buying the play text or other related books, we’d be delighted if you choose to purchase them by following the links below. We will earn a small commission on every book you purchase, which helps to keep the podcast going. Through our selected partners Bookshop.org and Blackwell’s you will also be supporting independent bookshops. Thank you.

We have footnotes for this episode …

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is such a rich play that we have a lots of Footnotes to supplement our episode on the play. These include more on the origins and meaning of the famous title; some play-by-play analysis of George and Martha’s battle; the symbolic contrast between history and biology which George and Nick represent; the absence of model parents, or children at all; the thrill of the play’s language; and the censors who took offense at this “filthy play”.

Take me there!

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021 – The Glass Menagerie, by Tennessee Williams

Feb 24, 2021 | Podcast Episodes

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Tennessee Williams breakthrough playThe Glass Menagerie is a very personal portrait of Williams’ own flawed family. It first opened on Broadway in March 1945 to rave reviews, it’s box office success catapulting its 34-year old author to fame and fortune. The play is now a standard on educational curricula and theatrical programs, loved for its heart-wrenching portrayal of the hopes and disappointments of its characters, and admired for its theatrical technique and poetic dramatic language.

The play was brilliantly staged in 2013 on Broadway in a production directed by John Tiffany, which was revived in 2017 in London’s West End, and I am absolutely delighted to be joined in this episode by the director himself, John Tiffany, to share his insights into this enduring classic.

019 – The Welkin, by Lucy Kirkwood

Jan 28, 2021 | Podcast Episodes

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It is 1759 in East Anglia. A child has been murdered and a young woman has been convicted to hang for the crime. She ‘pleads her belly’ and a jury of matrons must determine if she is truly with child and thus may escape the gallows. Lucy Kirkwood’s powerful play The Welkin, is an historical thriller and a tense courtroom drama, as well as a vivid representation of the real burdens that women carry in a patriarchal world of any age.
The Welkin premiered at the National Theatre in January 2020 before its run was cruelly cut short by the first Covid lockdown. I’m delighted to be joined by the author herself to talk about her rich new play.

018 – Copenhagen, by Michael Frayn

Jan 7, 2021 | Podcast Episodes

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It is September 1941. German physicist Werner Heisenberg is visiting his friend and former colleague, Danish physicist Niels Bohr at his home in Copenhagen. Denmark is occupied by the Third Reich, and both men are under surveillance by the Gestapo. What is the purpose of their meeting at this charged time? Did they confer about the potential to build weapons based on the emerging knowledge of nuclear fission? Did Heisenberg wish to warn Bohr about the growing threat to Danish Jews? These questions and more are explored in Michael Frayn’s absorbing play Copenhagen. I’m delighted and honoured to be joined in this episode by the playwright himself.

The 2020 Theatre Diary – March

Mar 31, 2020 | Blog Posts

Before the theatres went dark this month I was lucky enough to see Caryl Churchill’s A Number at the Bridge, and spend more than seven hours in thrall to Robert Lepage’s Seven Streams of the River Ota at the National. Plus, some thoughts on what we miss when there is no theatre.

The 2020 Theatre Diary – February

Mar 31, 2020 | Blog Posts

Another great mix of shows this month, from Tom Stoppard’s new play, to Ibsen, Beckett and newer plays in smaller London venues.

The 2020 Theatre Diary – January

Feb 24, 2020 | Blog Posts

The January roundup included both classic plays, such as The Duchess of Malfi, Uncle Vanya and Three Sisters, as well as recent musicals Dear Evan Hansen and Girl from the North Country …