Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Cathy Tyson at Curve – review

Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? remains one of the great unflinching portraits of marriage on the brink. It takes us through a long liquor-laced evening with two couples whose veneers crack to reveal the reality beneath. Dark and painfully human, this 1962 classic is as brutal as it is funny.

At the centre of the storm are George and Martha, a history professor and his wife, the daughter of the school’s president, who are a couple locked in a battle of wit and wounds. Their toxic dance is rendered with startling intimacy, and their relationship is displayed with a searing intensity that feels both uncomfortable and, at times, unbearable.

Martha decides to invite a younger couple, biology professor Nick and his wife Honey, to join them for more drinks after a university faculty event. What begins as an edgy cocktail party unravels into a gripping examination of their relationships, themselves, and the truth beneath the tender lies we tell ourselves to cope with the sting of life’s harsh realities.

Like marriage itself, this three-hour drama proves to be as much a test of fortitude as it is a commitment, but a rewarding one. What unfolds on stage is a battle of immense personalities, each one charged with an emotional voltage that crackles throughout the performance.

The sumptuous set and costume designs by Amy Jane Cook elevate and enhance the production, cementing the era of New England 1960s, with meticulous attention to detail. The dialogue is steeped in subtext, and as the tangled secrets of two marriages are gradually laid bare, it becomes clear that Albee’s carefully chosen words have been foreshadowing these revelations from the start.

Such psychological depth and intensity demand deft handling, and under Cara Nolan’s direction, the production achieves exactly that. The combination of a superb cast – Cathy Tyson as Martha, Patrick Robinson as George, Tilly Steele as Honey, and George Kemp as Nick – deliver performances of a remarkably high standard, each completely embodying their characters. It would have been easy to let the play’s searing exchanges slip into melodrama, but here every line feels earned and every silence charged with meaning. Every argument, snipe and cruel joke lands with weight.

The characters are fully explored and developed, which leads to an utterly convincing play. This production doesn’t just ask us to watch the couples’ chaos unfold; it makes us feel it. There is ample humour, but it is clever and considered, the kind that makes you laugh one moment and wince the next.

This rendition is emotionally honest and authentic, making for a difficult watch at some points, but certainly captivating at others. It’s a tough, uncompromising play, full of twists, games, and revelations, that cuts straight to the bone. Leaning into the discomfort with courage and precision, the result is an evening that’s deeply affecting and a thought-provoking reminder of why Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? still stands as one of the great works of modern times.