PlayMakers Repertory Company will celebrate the holidays a little differently this year, with something for those who need a night off from family activities and all the “fa-la-la.”
The professional theater in residence at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will present Edward Albee’s hilarious marital slugfest “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” Nov. 30-Dec. 18.
“It has been said that love is a battlefield,” said Joseph Haj, PlayMakers producing artistic director. “Meet two of the struggle’s consummate contenders in this knock-down, drag-out love story from the savagely wicked pen of a master American playwright.”
“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1963. However, it was considered so scandalous that after the Pulitzer Prize committee chose it for the award for drama, it then back-tracked and didn’t present an award that year. More than half the Pulitzer committee resigned in protest.
“‘Virginia Woolf” will definitely be a change of pace for the holidays,” Haj said. “Take the worst family get-together you can imagine, add a fifth of scotch and chase it with some of the best one-liners in American theater for a truly unforgettable experience.”
Longtime PlayMakers company members Ray Dooley and Julie Fishell, seen last season as another less-than-functional couple in PlayMakers’ production of “Happy Days,” will play George and Martha, the couple portrayed in “Virginia Woolf.”
The New York Times said the play has “abundant alarming humor that finds the gut-wrenching factor in belly laughs.” Variety called the play “entirely engrossing … relentlessly intense.”
Wendy C. Goldberg will direct the PlayMakers production. Goldberg is in her eighth season as artistic director of the National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Conn., which received the 2010 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater.
PlayMakers will perform “Virginia Woolf” in the Paul Green Theatre in UNC’s Center for Dramatic Art on Country Club Road. Shows will be 7:30 p.m. nightly Tuesdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. on Dec. 10 and 2 p.m. Sundays. For a schedule, information and tickets, call (919) 962-PLAY (7529) or visit www.playmakersrep.org. Tickets are $10 to $45.
On Nov. 22 at 6:30 p.m., PlayMakers will host a behind-the-scenes preview of the play, “The Vision Series: Directors in Conversation” with Goldberg. Anyone interested in the creative process is invited to the Paul Green Theatre to share refreshments and a sneak peek at the set and upcoming production.
“The Vision Series” is free to the public. Reservations are appreciated. Call PlayMakers at (919) 962-7529 to RSVP.
Other special events during “Virginia Woolf” will include:
- Nov. 21, 6 p.m.: discussion with the director and cast at McIntyre’s Books, Fearrington Village, Pittsboro;
- Nov. 30, Dec. 1 and Dec. 2, 7:30 p.m.: preview performances;
- Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m.: opening night performance with a complimentary gala party afterward;
- Dec. 5, 7 p.m.: “In the Wings,” presented by PlayMakers and the Durham County Library. Cast and creative team members (designers, actors and production personnel) discuss the play at the Main Library, 300 N. Roxboro St., Durham;
- Dec. 7 and Dec. 11: free post-show discussions with the creative team;
- Dec. 7-10 and Dec. 14-17: “Holiday Night Out” dining package at The Carolina Inn, paired with the evening performance. Reservations may be made online at 12days@carolinainn.com or by calling (919) 918-2718. Tickets are $75 each.
- Dec. 17 and Dec. 18: free post-show “Mindplay” discussions sponsored by the North Carolina Psychoanalytic Society; and
- Dec. 13: all-access performance for attendees with special needs, with sign language interpretation and audio description.
Dos Perros Restaurant is co-producing sponsor for “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
In the new year, PlayMakers’ season will continue with Nilaja Sun’s “No Child …” in the PRC2 second-stage series (Jan. 11-15), followed by the Shakespearean coming-of-age plays “Henry IV” and “Henry V,” collectively titled “The Making of a King” and playing in rotating repertory Jan. 28-March 4.
The main-stage season finale will be the uproarious British comedy “Noises Off” by Michael Frayn (April 4-22), and the second stage will close with the world premiere of “Penelope,” written and performed by Ellen McLaughlin, with live music composed by Sarah Kirkland Snider (April 25-29). Season subscription packages are available.
PlayMakers is based in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences. The Drama League has named PlayMakers one of the “best regional theatre companies in America.”
See more photos from the show: http://www.playmakersrep.org/pressphotos
