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Show Now Playing Qn Stage 111 Ssit Lake byAnneLBumeu ..- . Who's Afraid of Virginia Wool ? Edward Albee's classic play gets an okay treatment by the Salt Lake Acting Company. Com-pany. The set is first-rate, the lighting works but some of the acting performances don't go far enough. The play takes place in the living room of a house on the campus of a small New England college. George, played by Tony Larimer, is a history professor married to Martha, played by Gail Hickman, who happens to be the daughter of the college's president. The play is the study of the frustrations and inadequacies inadequa-cies shared by two people who love each other in their own ways and for their own reasons. It is Albee's look into the complicated web of inner egos trapped by outside forces. He creates a situation in which we can see how these two people, George and Martha, have adapted themselves in an effort to survive the inner pain they feel. It's a simple enough event. The couple attends a party for new faculty members and Martha invites younger math professor Nick, played by Allen Nevins, and his wife, Honey, played by Valerie Kittel, over to their home afterwards. We are well into the second act before we realize that Martha and George are playing a series of mind games with the young couple. Honey is one of those people who ends up used by others because she isn't bright enough to be part of their esoteric world. But Nick is bright enough and Martha knows it--he just never realizes the "cost" of his knowledge until the damage is done. Kittel's performance as Honey is right on target. Of the four performers she has the fewest lines but she manages to stay constantly involved while on stage. Her drunkeness appears a little too suddently but the physical physi-cal and vocal qualities she has used to create her character send us clear messages of the part Honey plays in the drama at any given time. Her acting was at its best during the third act, when George announces the last game which he calls "get the guests." Kittel shows all the hurt and anguish of a wounded bird when she realizes her husband has let slip one of her private secrets. They have no children yet largely because she is afraid of sexual intercourse and suffers from headaches and "throwing up a lot." Kittel's reaction probably brings out the best in Nevins who until that time appeared to be somewhere else. "Woolfe" is one of those plays where underplaying against a raving Martha or George can be effective but the danger of excessive underplaying is the appearance appear-ance of a lack of energy, which leads to being distracted dis-tracted from the character. Nevins does have his moments though, most of them happen opposite Larimer. Lari-mer. Having never seen Richard Burton in the role, I was not tempted to compare Larimer to him, nor have I ever seen the play done by anyone else. But I have read it. And the playwright literally screams for fireworks fire-works between Martha and George. That is what I felt was missing in Larimer and Hickman's interpretations. The sarcasm was there but I missed the quickness and sureness of the blows. Albee has written the kind of devastating mind war that eats people alive. Honey and Nick at first unknowingly and then knowingly are eaten alive only to figure out that people who "live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones." It is George who makes the decision to carry their "exercise" to the limits of destroying Martha. But somehow I had a hard time believing Larimer could dominate do-minate anybody into anything. any-thing. The interpretation was there but it lacked the macho power needed for George. Hickman was relaxed and believable on stage but I missed her fire and the sense of desperation that drives her to destruction. 'However, the sheer magnitude magni-tude of the number of lines and their difficulty to master are credits to both actors. And there were some nice moments. Marth's early moments with George as she lets him know guests are coming was one of them. Also, George's key line, "I know when I'm being threatened," threat-ened," said later in the play. The most notable disappointments disap-pointments come at the end of the play. In the end Martha is reduced to sitting on the floor crying. Her bare inner person is supposed to be showing as she answers the question of who's really afraid of Virginia Woolf-it is in the end, Martha. George knows this and uses it. As an audience member, however, I was at that moment fighting to stay awake as I listened to a woman sitting on the floor crying. I might have still had trouble staying awake if the play had been paced quicker and had more fire but I should have felt some sort of sympathy or empathy for Martha after all, Martha and George are people just like us. The show runs about three hours with two short intermissions. inter-missions. It is jphysically and emotionally draining for the audience as well as .the actors so it is not the sort of play to be seen if you're out on the town to have a "fun" time. $6.00 may be on the high side for this one but it has enough moments to make it worth seeing. "Who's Afriad of Virginia Woolfe?" plays through December 12 at The Glass Factory Theater in Salt Lake City. |