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Title: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee ISBN: 0-451-15871-7 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: August, 1988 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.63 (30 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: one of the best modern plays
Comment: A play in three acts, a very simple setting, and only four characters who live in a small, university town in America: a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. And a "young and innocent" couple, Nick and Honey. They all meet in a room, in Martha and George's house, very late one night, for a nightcap. And then...all hell breaks lose.
The play tears apart both marriages: the middle aged couple, who seem to hate each other and in the end turn out to be much more devoted to each other as it would seem. The young, seemingly perfect couple, who turn out to have lots of problems of their own. In three heart-breaking scenes, using dialogue that cuts like a knife, Edward Albee has written a masterpiece. He manages to give a clear-cut, honest picture of the reality of marriage, the reality of love, and the fears that go hand in hand with love and intimacy. At some point, in act three, Martha talks about her husband- and it's probably one of the best pieces of literature I've read:
"...George who is out somewhere there in the dark...George who is good to me, and whom I revile; who understands me, and whom I push off; who can make me laugh, and I choke it back in my throat; who can hold me, at night, so that it's warm, and whom I will bite so there's blood; who keeps learning the games we play as quickly as I can change the rules; who can make me happy and I do not wish to be happy, and yes I do wish to be happy, George and Martha: sad, sad, sad."
What more can I say? just read the play, and if you get the chance, watch it performed in the theatre, too.
Rating: 5
Summary: Witty, sassy, funny!
Comment: Brilliantly vitriolic, witty, and sassy, this is one of the most engrossing and readable dramas you are likely to come across. At its most basic level, this play is so simple - just four characters, one room, and all the action taking place in the space of a few hours. But in terms of substance this is a powerfully rich and complex work of genius. The writing cuts like a sharp knife, the characters are exquisitely developed and original, and their chemistry is charged with an undeniable energy.
The characters are at odds with each other throughout the play, and yet it is difficult to takes sides with only one of them. They are all both likeable and dislikeable at the same time. George is a mean-spirited passive-aggressive with a huge chip on his shoulder, but it's impossible not to root for him as he joyfully attacks his wife, Martha, for her fondness of the bottle and various other sins. Nick's demeanor is just a tad holier-than-thou, but it is easily forgivable given the outrageous treatment he is forced to endure throughout the evening. Honey, his wife, is a ditz and a lush, but loveable in the same way as an Irish Setter. Any one of the four could easily carry the show, and together they create a powerful tension that keeps the play moving at a brisk pace.
It is easy to see why Albee's writing has earned him a Pulitzer Prize. What is surprising is that is was another, lesser-known play and not this one that he won it for.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good read, not so great to watch
Comment: I really enjoyed reading the play, the character development, the natural language and conversation, the contrast between the two couples as if shifts from beginning to end. However, I did not enjoy watching the play. Maybe it is because I don't enjoy conflict to begin with, but listening to screaming and angry conversation for three hours was so unpleasant that I wasn't even able to enjoy the aforementioned attributes of the play. Too tense, and I don't know...too much like listening to parents before they get divorced?
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Title: A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams ISBN: 0451167783 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: August, 1989 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Death of A Salesman by Arthur Miller ISBN: 0140481346 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: 06 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $10.00 |
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Title: The American Dream: And the Zoo Story by Edward Albee ISBN: 0452278899 Publisher: Plume Pub. Date: October, 1997 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Long Day's Journey into Night, Second edition by Eugene O´Neill, Harold Bloom ISBN: 0300093055 Publisher: Yale Univ Pr Pub. Date: 01 March, 2002 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams ISBN: 0451171128 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: September, 1989 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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