Theater Reviews

May 22, 2006 - Bruka Theater's devastating "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" succeeds handsomely

By Jack Neal

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" is about the games people play, and the games begin with the play's author, Edward Albee. The codes made up by author Dan Brown for his "The Da Vinci Code" are small potatoes when compared to the coded names Albee uses in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf."

Albee's Martha and George, named after the childless President George and wife Martha Washington, is - short of murder itself - the ultimate dysfunctional couple. A couple not able to tell a lie when the truth hurts so very much more, is central to Albee's play about the disintegration of marriage.

Nick, the young man of the couple who share the wee small hours of the morning shredding relationships with Martha and George, is said to have been named after Nikita Kruschev - the Soviet Union's cold-war warrior. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" is nothing, if not a cold war of relationships.

Honey is Nick's wife. Her contribution to their marriage is money, ill-gotten from her preacher father who raked in cash as an unscrupulous evangelist. New Carthage College is the name of the college Martha's father founded, where George is employed as an associate professor of history. Martha's contribution to her husband's career is her father, something she doesn't let George forget. The old Carthage of history is the site of the destruction of an ancient empire and destruction is what "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" is about.

The base of the themes from Albee's powerful play may be outdated and forgotten, but the riveting display of Albee's hateful relationships are not. Martha and George, Nick and Honey may be exaggerations, but they are - at least in part - who we are - at least in part, and that's what makes the material of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" so relevant.

In the theater, splendid writing and splendid material deserve a splendid production and that is what is transpiring Thursdays through Saturdays through most of June at Reno's Bruka Theatre. One can almost forget the 1966 indelible screen performances of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Great actors, of course, but the stormy Taylor-Burton performances were presumed by moviegoers to be much like the legendary private lives of one of Hollywood's most celebrated married, divorced, married-again and divorced-again couples.

Given their superb work, Holly Natwora as Martha and Scott Beers as George may not be as famous, but they are - for those who have seen this production - equally as celebrated. "I swear, if you existed, I'd divorce you," Martha intones. "Martha, in my mind you're buried in cement right up to the neck. No, up to the nose, it's much quieter," George retorts. George can match Martha's emasculating gamemanship with daggers to the heart of his own. But these two fine performances are more than flinging insults, they're about the wounds of the human wars waged all too often in all too many marriages.

The specific weapons used in Martha and George's war of words and emotions are called "Humiliate the Host," "Hump the Hostess," and "Get the Guests." The fuel for their assaults is liquor - lots of it.

Natwora is vulgar, needy, seductive. Her Martha isn't so much a performance as an existence. Natwora is Martha. Beers is acerbic, passive-aggressive and flings his deliberate delivery of lines with clarion alacrity. "Martha and I," he reassures Nick who is alarmed over what is happening, "are merely exercising - that's all, we're merely walking what's left of our wits."

Geoffrey Altrocchi brings a subtle sexuality to his take on Nick, a sexuality he works to good advantage as the action progresses. Assured, handsome and athletic, Nick is the new faculty man on campus. Slowly the cracks in what at first seems to be Nick's strengths begin to show up. Altrocchi's performance is nicely modulated and impressive. Alison Girard is Honey, a young just-married woman with her own slate of issues. Girard, too, is excellent and holds her own and then some with the very good company she's keeping on stage.

Jim Martin has directed this symphony of dialogue and disgust and he's done it with a minuscule attention to detail, without sacrificing the play's lacerating wit and grand-slam design. Lewis Zaumeyer's splendidly realistic set has 1960s college professor written all over it.

Bruka Theatre's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" is a gripping presentation of a compelling play. It's current, choice and shouldn't be missed.

"Who's Afraid of Virgnia Woolf" can be seen at the Bruka Theatre, 99 North Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada Thursdays through Saturdays, May 11 (2006) through June 24 (2006) at 8 p.m., with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees May 28 and June 11 (2006). Performances, with two intermissions, last 3 hours and 15 minutes (a good argument for earlier evening curtain times). For information call 775-323 3221.