About the work
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a drama by Edward Albee, premiered on Broadway in 1962. The play about a nocturnal, alcohol-soaked marital war is regarded as one of the most significant American dramas of the 20th century and a masterpiece of psychological warfare on the stage.
Plot
After a faculty party, the frustrated history professor George and his wife Martha, the daughter of the university president, return home late at night. Martha has invited a young couple: the ambitious biology professor Nick and his naive wife Honey. In ever more brutal "games" — "Humiliate the Host", "Hump the Hostess", "Bringing Up Baby" — George and Martha tear into each other before their overwhelmed guests with jibes, humiliations and revelations. Over the course of the drunken night, truth and lie, reality and illusion blur. Finally George "kills" their shared, never-existent son — the couple's central life-lie — leaving both exhausted, but perhaps for the first time honest.
Cultural significance
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? made Edward Albee world-famous and broke taboos through its unsparing depiction of marriage, illusion and self-destruction. Mike Nichols's 1966 film with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton became a classic. The title — a play on "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf" — became a catchphrase. The play is among the most-performed dramas of modern theatre and is considered a touchstone for great acting couples.