Theater Review: Steppenwolf’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ With Tracy Letts Redefines Edge-of-Your-Seat Captivation

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CHICAGO – Amy Morton says she’s afraid of Virginia Woolf, but she’s actually terrorized violently – and masterfully – by her stage husband, Tracy Letts. Even if you dive into Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre blind to the fact that local playwright and actor Tracy Letts won a Pulitzer Prize for Steppenwolf’s “August: Osage County,” you’d quickly discern in the first act that you’re witnessing a legend.

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Play Rating: 4.5/5.0

But while the content of this play is challenging enough, it’s delivered by ensemble members Tracy Letts and co-lead Amy Morton for theatergoers who aren’t faint of heart. The story, which is set inside the living room of a home on the campus of a small New England college, centers around a fanatic love/hate relationship of one married couple (Letts and Morton).

Carrie Coon, Tracy Letts, Madison Dirks and Amy Morton in Steppenwolf's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Left to right: Carrie Coon, ensemble member Tracy Letts, Madison Dirks and ensemble member Amy Morton in Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s production of Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Photo credit: Michael Brosilow

While it’s violently hateful 90 percent of the time and loving for just a little bit of the balance, Albee fashions fascinating self-delusions for this couple that they tolerate for their own sanity and survival. The pair serve as Albee’s most scandalously dysfunctional twosome and the fast-paced and fast-talking script represents an uproarious and tormenting masterpiece.

Amy Morton (left) and Tracy Letts
Amy Morton (left) and Tracy Letts.
Photo credit: Saverio Truglia

Albee, who is a Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning playwright, has previously stunned audiences with works including “The Goat,” “A Delicate Balance,” “Seascape,” “Who is Sylvia?” and “Three Tall Women”.

Though Albee and Chicago director Pam MacKinnon have clearly chosen to laser focus on the negative in this ruinous marriage, having intermixed just a few more moments of love could have helped to create an up-and-down emotional roller coaster instead of purely a slit-your-wrist dramedy.

For some, this mostly verbal and somewhat physical violence can be hard to observe. Especially for audience members who’ve experience some form of abuse in the past, be prepared to head down an exigent memory lane that’s as authentic as it gets. Your willingness to engage this kind of plot can be likened to an emotionally taxing story like “Schindler’s List”.

Along with being mentally stabilized for the content of a demoralizing marriage made in hell, so must you be willing to stay butt planted for a time commitment of more than three hours with two 15-minute intermissions. Letts says Albee has “chastised me for ‘August: Osage County’ being a bit long”. “August: Osage County” clocks in at 3.5 hours.

While Amy Morton delivers an above-average, Steppenwolf-caliber performance, she still doesn’t match the unmatched prowess of Tracy Letts. Then again, mutually sharing stage presence with Letts is a taxing proposition for any actor in the entirety of Chicago. There’s only one Letts and Morton is on par with him nearly as could have been expected.

Tracy Letts and Amy Morton in Steppenwolf's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Tracy Letts (left) and Amy Morton in Steppenwolf’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Photo credit: Michael Brosilow

Letts says he first saw Morton perform in “Lie of the Mind” at Steppenwolf in the late 1980s. “She was topless. That made an impression,” Letts said. “And at the same time at the Gaslight across the street, someone had written some very dirty graffiti about Amy with a phone number.”

While Morton claims the phone number wasn’t hers, the pair have collaborated at the Steppenwolf many times in the past typically as a married couple. Letts, who says they’ve been “married” more than five times now on stage, was directed in 2003 by Morton in this play at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta. Morton says the play “very simply is about a marriage [and an] incredibly complicated relationship … [but it’s also] a story about America.”

“From a dramaturgical standpoint, George (Letts) is the protagonist of the piece and Martha (Morton) is the antagonist,” Letts said. “As the guy playing George, the play has a lot to do with his need to eradicate illusion from this longstanding relationship. If in fact this relationship is going to progress and if these people are going to stay married, they’re going to have to face some painful truths.” One of the most excruciating is the realities of their absent son.

Tracy Letts and Amy Morton in Steppenwolf's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Amy Morton (left) and Tracy Letts in Steppenwolf’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
Photo credit: Michael Brosilow

While Letts and Morton are the primary figures haunting your mind in this play, the four-person “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” is rounded out by a second married couple played by a delightfully inebriated Carrie Coon and a very formal Madison Dirks. Dirks, who plays a new professor at the college, brings his wife for an unusually late-night nightcap to the home of Letts and Morton. The younger couple find themselves a deer in headlights amid the crossfire of sadistic marital bloodshed.

Coon’s character provides for some much-needed comic relief within a story that’s as grave as it gets. The play is still balanced with a surprising sum of humor even without her drunkenness.

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Dirks’ character is absolutely bewildered and overpowered by Letts and the performance by Dirks creates an unbalanced back-and-forth tussle. While Dirks is relentlessly trying to regain some of the power that Letts has captured, Dirks constantly falls short. Letts puts the wrath of god in Dirks and you feel as though Dirks might run away crying at any moment.

While many plays take your money in exchange for some form of entertainment, this time you actually feel privileged to experience a glimpse inside the mad minds of these actors and this story. Steppenwolf’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” will plainly be one of the best, most powerful and most memorable live performance you’ll ever experience.

Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” opened at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre at 1650 N. Halsted St. on Dec. 12, 2010 and runs through Feb. 13, 2011. Curtain times are on Tuesdays through Sundays at 7:30 p.m. Evening performances are on Sundays through Jan. 16, 2011 only. Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 3 p.m. Wednesday matinees are on Jan. 19, Jan. 26, Feb. 2 and Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $20 to $75 and can be purchased here.

Student tickets are available online for $15 using promo code VIRGINIA15 here. “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” stars Tracy Letts, Amy Morton, Carrie Coon and Madison Dirks from director Pam MacKinnon. The production team includes Todd Rosenthal (sets), Nan Cibula-Jenkins (costumes), Allen Lee Hughes (lights) and Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (sound). Malcolm Ewen is the stage manager and Deb Styer is the assistant stage manager.

© 2010 Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com LLC

HollywoodChicago.com editor-in-chief and publisher Adam Fendelman

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

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