It’s Enough

When the Whole Arts Theatre decided to put on a production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? they probably already understood that the resources available to them would not compare in scale or grandeur to many previous productions of the play.
This is a reality that many smaller theatres face. Instead of working to make the most glorious version of a well known play, the goal is to put on a production that can remind the audience of the play’s glory and to remind the audience of the entertainment that a live, in the round theatre performance can provide.
Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? debuted on stage in 1962, before being made into a movie in 1966. It is the story of a maddened couple, George and Martha, and the time they spend entertaining young couple, Nick and Honey, in their home for a “nightcap.” The older couple, heavily inebriated, tantalizingly drags them through the issues of their tumultuous relationship. During the course of the evening, Nick and Honey’s own problems surface, wreaking emotional havoc amongst four people so wacky and intense that the only natural response seems to be to squirm in your seat—or join in on the drinking.
Richard Philpot and Martie Philpot, George and Martha, respectively, beautifully execute their characters. Maybe their offstage marriage contributes to the chemistry that produces their vicious and violent arguments. But the Philpots consistently outperform both Carol Zombro as Honey, and Trevor Maher as Nick, in tact and execution.
The Philpot’s seemed to have found their characters making their performances appear far more natural than those of Nick and Honey.
While Honey is definitely supposed to be drunk for a good deal of the play, Ms. Zombro’s choice of facial and corporeal expressions instead misleads that audience to conclude that Honey has developed some sort of severe mental handicap in the course of the evening. What is really supposed to be a role that is comical alternatively turns into a role that makes little sense in the play and evokes pity rather than laughter.
Mr. Maher is more in touch with his character, acting within the frame of sanity, but with both hands waiting at his side like a quick draw cowboy, many of his lines were delivered quickly and missed their target. Precariously smoking a cigarette, the audience practically holds their breathe to see if he will choke or continue to deliver his lines.
It seems that the younger cast was chosen based more on availability than merit and this is all well because the only disappointment available is for the people who go to the play and expect a performance as great as Elizabeth Taylor’s. Given the scale of production and price of the show, Ms. Zombro’s and Mr. Maher’s performances’ are not exactly reprehensible and with the Philpot’s performance, it is enough to call this a successful local production.