Theatre Burlington generation superb but disturbing

There is so considerably to unpack in a critique of Who’s Concerned of Virginia Woolf?, at present onstage at Theatre Burlington, it’s hard to know where by to get started.

First, it runs a lot more than a few hours with its two intermissions, but just about every moment is partaking, and at periods excellent and riveting, the two for the play’s wit and for the wonderful performances of its actors.

But it’s not a participate in for everyone: it worries the viewers to keep up with its verbal swordplay, to distinguish in between truth and illusion, and to endure the discomfiture it results in.

The perform alone is now much more than 60 years aged, and plainly sets alone in the time period with references to WWII and prohibition remaining in the collective recollections of the people, and yet its importance and impact is no a lot less impressive now. 

In some regards, the engage in can be found as an allegory for the collapse of the American loved ones, and perhaps the collapse of American civility, if not civilization. The primary characters, George and Martha, are the first pair of The usa, the fantastic American pair. 

George would be the dignified American chief who delivers out the ideal in his fellow Us citizens and Martha, presumably the great supportive spouse who delivers out the finest in her husband. In its place, even so, we have a Martha who continually belittles her husband, and George, who delivers out the worst in those people close to him. They are the ideal pair for a fractured America.

The title, Who’s Concerned of Virginia Woolf? is doubly symbolic. On the one hand, it references the line from Walt Disney’s A few Little Pigs, “Who’s fearful of the significant, negative wolf?” and at the exact time immediately alludes to Virginia Woolf, a incredibly serious author who suffered from bi-polar problem and whose life finished in suicide. 

In a nutshell, the references advise the theme of actuality as opposed to illusion, and our turning to illusion when our fact is too complicated to endure.

The play opens in the residing place of George and Martha, a established brilliantly devised by Michelle Spanik to use every single bit of house the stage at Theatre Burlington offers, with ‘60s kitsch and design and style like lamps, enormous doorbell chimes on the wall, fireplace and bar cart. The American eagle more than the doorway is a tad overstated, and the modern art piece over the fireplace is annoyingly flimsy, but the over-all established is effective for the movement the people demand and properly reflective of a quite effectively-to-do, but lived-in 1960s room.

To start out, George and Martha have returned from a school celebration, hosted by Martha’s father, the president of the university, a Trump-like villain in his own ideal who “expects loyalty and devotion.”

Location us up to satisfy the great American pair, the play swiftly puts this notion to rest once the dialogue begins and the ingesting continues…and goes on and on. The excellent humour of the 1st scene, in which George and Martha spar a minimal, but also share some times of passion, rapidly turns to a verbal struggle, Martha besting and belittling George at just about every feasible instant, quite possibly because she enjoys the viewers of their company, whose names they can not even don’t forget. A fight amongst George and Martha ensues, with the game often utilizing and hurting the company Martha has invited.

Kelly Kimpton’s Martha is in close proximity to excellent: she owns the stage with her motion, and she exudes the great mixture of attractive and hideous, particularly in Act 2 when she is costumed in a leopard print prime and she is at the top of her sarcasm. Kimpton’s posture and expression mirror the gamut of Martha’s complexity – from playful to signify, from sardonic to unfortunate.

Mark Ellis is pretty great without a doubt as the stoic and unpredictable George. Ellis appears to have a twinkle in his eye when George is at his witty greatest, and there is a regulate Ellis exerts more than George, as if the barbs he inflicts are like the ice cubes he coolly plops in the many, a lot of beverages he pours…until his anger erupts, at the very least.

Jeffery Giles and Rebecca Durance properly enjoy the foils of George and Martha, Nick and Honey. Nick and Honey are the present day pair. Properly outfitted in a skinny ‘60s suit, which seems to be modern-day by today’s vogue typical, Nick is a biology professor, symbolizing the science of the long term in contrast to George’s History professorship, and Honey is dressed in a funky, plush environmentally friendly mini frock, which looks like it could have been worn in the motion picture by Sandy Denis.

These are two experienced actors. Giles properly uses a New England accent, and does very well to infuse Nick with a stiffness and controlled anger that his character needs. Rebecca Durance Hine is wonderful as the innocent Honey, and there is a sweetness to her expression which appeals to the audience’s sympathy as even she falls sufferer to the barbed invective which surrounds her. 

Deb Dagenais directs this manufacturing with a proficient hand at relocating people on the phase. Martha’s movement at situations showed her to management the home as if she had been placing it under a witch’s spell. In addition, the turning about the room by a variety of people – Nick and George most notably – whilst they verbally sparred prompt two boxers in a ring or two cats circling just about every other, readying themselves for a actual physical face. There is one minute when a chair that is scarcely onstage is employed by the director to marginalize and make modest the character who occupies it… nicely done!

Not able to go to opening weekend, I noticed the perform on dress rehearsal night, so I was well prepared to forgive glitches that might have been evident. But what I saw was a functionality and manufacturing worthy of any audience. Admittedly, there was a single prop and there were two set pieces I did not like, but the generation – from lights to performing and directing – is really superb. It is a major perform, make no slip-up, but of the greatest high-quality a single could hope.

Performed at Theatre Burlington, 2311 New St, guiding the library

Performance Dates: Fridays, Feb 2, 9 and 16 Saturdays, Feb 3, 10 and 17, at 8 p.m., and Sundays, Feb 4. and 11, at 2 p.m.

Producer: Michelle Spanik

Director: Deb Dagenais

Gregory Flis is a area actor and director who contributes critiques, previews and article content about location theatre for BurlingtonToday.