25 years ago, Edward Albee's pressure cooker domestic drama Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was performed on the Oxford Playhouse stage. Given its connections to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, whose no-holds-barred performances in the 1966 film adaptation cemented warring husband and wife George and Martha as icons of modern theatre, it's perhaps no wonder that the Playhouse shares something of a spiritual link with this production. Fastforward to 2026, as the Playhouse crew prepare to stage their first entirely self-produced mainstage drama in two decades; and what better fit than our unhappy couple? Ahead of its premiere this Friday, we spoke to press officer Tom Legg about how their production draws the audience, along with an unsuspecting young couple, into George and Martha's increasingly vindictive mind games.
Daily Information: What was behind the choice to stage Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Tom Legg: Our Artistic Director, Mike, first read the play thirty years ago and was immediately moved by Edward Albee’s masterful words. The first time he saw it was coincidentally at Oxford Playhouse in 2001 – the last time it was staged here.
The play also marks a landmark moment for us: the first time in twenty years that we have solely produced a main-stage drama. It feels pertinent that this return is marked by one of the most electrifying and darkly funny plays ever written, one that so many are familiar with but rarely get to see performed on stage.
It also happens to be a story set in an academic town – albeit in New England – so it’s been interesting so far to explore the dynamics and hierarchies of academia that are at play, right here on the city’s stage.
DI: With a small cast in a single setting, taking place over the course of an evening, the play has a very intimate, almost claustrophobic feel to it; how does the Playhouse team play with this sense of tension?
TL: I think the sense of tension is already deeply embedded in Albee’s writing, so there are countless ways to bring it to the forefront through the production’s physical language – set, sound, lighting and beyond.
Making this production specifically for our theatre, we’ve been able to take full advantage of the space and create something that draws the audience closer to the charged atmosphere that, at times, surrounds the characters’ living room. Our brilliant set designer, Liz Ascroft, has created a space that almost implicates the audience in the action from their seats. The theatre’s red tabs are visible throughout, acting as a subconscious reminder that this is a performance – but one they’re a part of. There is also a series of theatrical frames and large openings used on stage, serving as a visual nod to the idea that this living room is itself a performance arena.
As a result, the audience begins to feel less like observers and more like Nick and Honey – the invited guests – drawn in and confronted with their own self-perceptions, lies, truths and fears. The intimacy of this single setting, rather than containing the tension, allows it to press outward, so that by the end of the evening the boundaries between the stage and auditorium feel almost diminished.
DI: The roles of George and Martha were of course made famous by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in the 1966 film adaptation; given their connection to the Playhouse, is there a bit of a tribute to the pair in choosing Who’s Afraid as a Playhouse production?
TL: Yes - it’s been 60 years since the iconic film adaptation starring Burton and Taylor, which means we’re also marking the same anniversary of the OUDS production of Dr Faustus which brought them to the Playhouse stage. They will always be part of our theatre’s legacy – immortalised in what is now our Burton Taylor Studio – so in many ways this production does feel like a natural homecoming.
There is something fitting about returning to a work that is so closely associated with them at a moment when we’re reflecting on our own history. As we begin a new chapter in Oxford Playhouse’s history, I’ve found myself looking back across our nearly 90 year journey, and this is a title that seems to sit effortlessly within our past, present and future.
DI: Do you sympathise with George and Martha?
TL: In many ways, I do, and I think anyone who sees this play will identify and see some parts of themselves in both Martha and George.
On the surface, the couple could be seen as quite reprehensible for inviting this unwitting couple - Nick and Honey - into their home and ferociously using them as pawns in their games. But as the evening goes on, drinks are refilled, and cracks begin to form, every truth and secret is revealed, and you begin to understand their hardened exteriors are just masking this very real pain.
Through these revelations, the characters become recognisable to us and deeply human. It’s a play told in real time, so it does give us, the audience, a chance to reflect and at times, sympathise. By the end, I think everybody can relate to the complexity of all four characters.
DI: The play premiered in 1963 and tackles many cultural anxieties of the time, not least the instability of the nuclear family; why do you think George and Martha’s eternal conflict still resonates with today’s audience?
TLI think Albee’s play – and even the language he uses – still feels entirely current.
Throughout his career, his work centres on ordinary settings and everyday lives, and he presents George and Martha’s relationship as an unflinching portrait of a dysfunctional marriage. This is entwined with the pressures of the ‘American Dream’ and the reliance on illusion rather than confronting difficult truths.
These themes in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? continue to reflect our modern anxieties: the complexities of relationships, curated realities, ambition, power struggles, and wider societal shifts. Albee’s pointofview remains so incredibly poignant and resonant today.
DI: Describe Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in five words.
TL: Afterparty that goes wildly wrong…
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? opens at Oxford Playhouse this Friday and will run until Saturday 7 March. For tickets, visit oxfordplayhouse.com.
Image credits: Andrew Walmsley, Craig Fuller