Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup to run in the West End

A new production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee will run at @sohoplace this autumn.

The production will star Gillian Anderson as Martha and Billy Crudup as George, alongside Josh Dylan as Nick and Phoebe Horn as Honey. It will be directed by Marianne Elliott.

Set on the campus of an American college, the play follows Martha and George, who invite a younger couple, Nick and Honey, back to their home in the early hours. Over the course of the night, the two couples engage in a series of escalating exchanges as the evening moves towards a moment of truth. It was last seen in the West End in 2017 with Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hill.

Sonia Friedman Productions, in association with Nica Burns, will produce the show, which will run at @sohoplace from 21 September to 19 December 2026, with a press night on 30 September. The production will be staged in the round, with Friedman saying today: “Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is one of the defining plays of the modern theatre – raw, ferociously funny and devastating in equal measure.

“To bring it to life with actors of the calibre of Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup, under the direction of the extraordinary Marianne Elliott, is a thrilling prospect. Staged in the round @sohoplace, this production will place audiences right inside George and Martha’s dangerous games, in a play that remains as shocking and truthful today as when Albee first wrote it.”

Burns added: “Sonia Friedman has brought together an outstanding creative team helmed by the brilliant Marianne Elliott with a remarkable cast led by Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup. We are excited that the first American classic to be presented @sohoplace will offer a different experience – thrillingly up close and personal – of Albee’s intense play in the intimacy of our in-the-round auditorium.”

The creative team also includes Miriam Buether as designer, James Farncombe as lighting designer, Ian Dickinson as sound designer, and Jim Carnahan as casting director.