THE TRAGEDY OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK

The Zoo Story and The American Dream .<br><br> Initially produced in 1962, Virginia Woolf was immediately recognized as a major work, not only in length, but also in terms of its scathingly honest portrayal of American life in the post World War II years. Alan Schneider directed the premiere, with Uta Hagen and Arthur Hill as the battling couple. The 1966 movie-directed by Mike Nichols (his film directing debut) and starring the real life married couple (at the time) of Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor-brought Albee and his play to a wider viewing audience, as well as significantly challenging the then dominant standards for judging the morality of a film 9s conte nt.<br><br> The play has been revived repeatedly, occasionally directed by Albee himself, and featured such acting pairs as Colleen Dewhurst and Ben Gazzara, Diana Rigg and David Suchet, and in a currently touring production, Kathleen Turner and Bill Irwin. Who 9s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is about a middle-aged married couple who invite a younger couple over for a cnight - cap d following a reception for new faculty at a New England college.<br><br> During the various encounters that follow, we and the characters realize that not all is as it seems: the innocent joshing at the start turns steadily more pointed and scabrous, and reality intrudes with a blistering force to disrupt the illusions surrounding the two couples. A troubled marriage is at the center of many of Al bee 9s plays. In an interview, Albee justified this recurring theme: Well, you know, I can 9t imagine anybody writing a play that would be very interesting about a couple of people getting along terribly well.<br><br> That would be pretty boring. It 9s called t elevision. Plays are meant to have dramatic conflict, and if people aren 9t in conflict, what 9s the point of writing them?<br><br> But you do write them hoping that people will stop behaving that way. And in Who 9s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , George and Martha do love each other very much 3 they 9re trying to fix a greatly damaged marriage, yes.<br><br> As the play progresses from the cFun and Games d of Act I, through the purgation of demons in the cWalpurgisnacht d of Act II, to the cExorcism d of Act III, George and Martha, along with their younger guests Nick and Honey, confront the elaborate personal mythologies they have created to give meaning to their marriages. Though once comforting, their clife - lies d have become prohibitively restrictive and ultimately self-destructive. Moreover, because we can not help but associate the names of George and Martha with the founding couple of American governance, Albee appears to be suggesting that something horribly dishonest is at the center of the American family.<br><br> What might be the nature of that cdishonest d center? The title (derived from some graffiti Albee had seen in a Greenwich Village restroom stall shortly before the play was finalized for production) refers to the writer Virginia Woolf, whose essays, journals, and novels examined the ambiguously defined boundary between reality and illusion, fact and fiction, the real and the ideal, as well as the anxieties associated with such ambiguity. Thus, to be afraid of Virginia Woolf is to be afraid of confronting the life-lie we often create to see us through our daily existence, such as ignoring the proverbial elephant in the living room.<br><br> As Albee has said in an interview, c Virginia Woolf just says have your pipe-dreams if want to, but realize you are kidding yourself. d W ho 9s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a massive work that challenges actors and audiences alike. Albee values performances that are forcefully involving: cAll drama goes for blood in one way or another & Sometimes the act of aggression is direct or indirect, but it is always an act of aggression.<br><br> & I want the audience to participate in the dramatic experience & If the drama succeeds, the audience is bloodied. d Albee comes out of a theatrical tradition called the Theatre of Cruelty, in which the purpose of performance is a sort of shock therapy, a violent confrontation which disrupts easy assumptions and conventional expectations. Ideally, an audience should leave the theater at the conclusion of the play somehow changed or transformed, aware of themselves and their values in a fundamentally different way. This play has certainly affected all of us involved in its current production.<br><br> Not only is Virginia Woolf an emotional roller-coaster for the actors, it is a fond farewell for all of them from the Transy stage. Each is a graduating senior majoring in Drama, and for three of them, acting in this production has been their Drama Senior Seminar. Over the years, Molly has distinguished herself as a brilliant student, a versatile and dependable actor as with her delightful Hermia in A Midsummer Night 9s Dream , and a resourceful leader.<br><br> Trent 9s intelligence, grace, and good humor has allowed him to play everything from Stanley Kowalsky to Oberon, King of the Fairies. Theresa 9s varied acting career at Transy has ranged from playing Claudius in our Women 9s Company production of Hamlet to the clairvoyant Cassandra, as well as directing an innovatively staged version of Clue for the Theater Guild. And Nathan has not only played complex roles in The Increased Difficulty of Concentration and The Caucasian Chalk Circle , he has also directed excellent productions of Godspell , Fuddy Meers , and Women and Wallace .<br><br> In addition, Senior Jason Sankovitch has designed the lights for Virginia Woolf and last Fall 9s A Midsummer N ight 9s Dream , as well as performing in Peer Gynt and Death of a Salesman . The power and intensity of Virginia Woolf is a fitting tribute to the excellence of these cast and crew members. It has been an honor to work with them all.<br><br> Tim Soulis

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