George and Martha ... sad, sad, sad. No, the Washingtons weren't getting a divorce when Edward Albee unveiled his Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1962. It was worse than that, the playwright responded to those baffled by his brilliant, tempestuous drama. America was dysfunctional. Repeated revivals over the past half-century have removed the aura of mystery surrounding George, the underachieving academic, Martha, the unsatisfied wife (also the dean's daughter) and their feckless young guests, Honey and Nick. Nor do we feel obligated to view George and Martha’s vicious charades and initiation rites as an allegorical history of America — because each of the four characters swept up in this drunken Walpurgisnacht is drawn so vividly. Twelve years have passed since Theatre Charlotte's last Woolf revival with Alan McClintock and Polly Adkins, so it's time to howl again with the company's executive director, Ron Law, as George (his first acting performance at the Queens Road barn) and Paula Baldwin as Martha. Another blue-chipper, Charles LaBorde, directs the new production.

Perry Tannenbaum

Price: $25-$27