We take a look at how critics have been reacting to Marianne Elliott’s production of Edward Albee’s play, running in the West End until the 19th December.
The Guardian: “The play, while exquisitely written and structured, feels tortuously long at over three hours, and though this is the point – to watch how two people destroy each other yet love each other – it still feels like a punishment. Staged in the round, it leaves little room for hiding. There is a revolve, slow for the most part, which shows their marriage up close, from every angle.”
Time Out: “Certainly it goes without saying that any play starring Gillian Anderson could run in a much bigger theatre. But Marianne Elliott’s in-the-round production is so intimate – not to mention intense – that after a while the thrill of Anderson and her co-star Billy Crudup being a couple of metres away is replaced by a sort of horror, a sense that we are not simply watching events from a distance, but are physically in the room for the madness.”
The Standard: “Anderson is magnificent here, first in a cocktail dress and then in cigarette pants and button-straining angora. Her Martha is lean and hard, with a raptor’s gimlet eye, unsentimental in the deployment of her fading glamour. She has a particular, calculated shimmy.”
Theatre Weekly: “Elliott’s direction is exceptional, maintaining astonishing tension across the play’s considerable running time. Every pause, glance and shift in power feels meticulously judged, allowing Albee’s language to breathe while ensuring the drama never loses momentum. Even at three hours in, you could see the audience leaning further forward in their seats, completely absorbed by the action unfolding.”
All That Dazzles: “What elevates this production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is the chemistry shared between Anderson and Crudup. Martha and George may not be the most loving of couples, with their war of words getting nastier by the minute, but there is an undeniable electricity between the two actors portraying them. This works both in their favour and against them, as the play is undoubtedly at its best when the two are on stage together. However, this also means that when one of them is absent, their presence is missed, with one fairly long scene in the second Act without Anderson leading to a rare dip in pacing.”
First Night Magazine: “Elliot’s direction provides the right dose of camp and self-possession, enhancing the piece’s dry humour and effectiveness. All the characters are exaggerated portrayals. By the time the show starts, George and Martha are already snapping, and despite the play’s length, things spiral out of control incredibly fast. Yet its credibility never wears off, nor does its ability to compel.”
The Stage: “Explosive performances animate this entertaining, high-energy take on Albee’s portrait of co-dependent cruelty.”
The Telegraph: “Edward Albee’s savage masterpiece gets a perfect staging with the star and Billy Crudup on formidable form as they rip each other to shreds.”
The Upcoming: “This production doesn’t inject anything new into the source material, but it doesn’t have to. It’s an actors’ play; it always has been, and long may it continue to be. Through powerhouse performances, George and Martha’s revulsion permeated the halls of @sohoplace last night. Its intensity will leave audiences drained, but this three-and-a-half-hour slinging match is sublime.”
Everything Theatre: “Director Marianne Elliott clearly has a vision for this production and executes it well. She puts audiences through three hours of rising tensions, psychological drama and physical and verbal violence before tearing illusion away so that all remains is the unfortunate reality of the deeply flawed characters.”
To book tickets visit: https://sohoplace.org/shows/whos-afraid-of-virginia-woolf-2026/