With most “Woolf’’ productions, the audience watches as power shifts from one character to the other among George, a middle-age history professor; his frustrated wife, Martha; and their guests: Nick, a young biology professor, and his wife, Honey, who have come for cocktails at George and Martha’s home. But Arciniegas never allows his actors to settle into any simple choices. Even as the formidable Tina Packer lands all her nasty name-calling in the play’s opening scene, an aching vulnerability seeps through her Martha. Meanwhile Nigel Gore’s George may, at first glance, appear to be the henpecked husband, but a steely, unflinching intelligence and sad sympathy for Martha lurk just below the surface.
The “bouncy’’ quality of this particular production may have been fueled in part by all the backstage drama that unfolded right up until the play’s opening. Just a couple of weeks ago, Albee unexpectedly denied the company the rights to stage the play. Some last-minute pleading allowed the show to go on, but the program includes a full-page statement that “this production is not approved by the play’s author, Edward Albee. Nevertheless, the production has been allowed to open.’’
The edgy atmosphere the performers bring to these characters makes them much more sympathetic and complicated than expected. Packer, who has a deep, slightly husky speaking voice, plays Martha mostly in her upper register, with a wide-eyed, almost childlike innocence that contrasts sharply with Martha’s desperate, vicious attacks. She nervously giggles nearly constantly, which contrasts with George’s controlled calm.
Gore’s George never feels like the doormat Martha tries to denigrate. Instead, he appears to tolerate his wife’s harangues because he understands the pain that motivates them. One of the highlights of this production is George’s banter with Nick (Kevin Kaine). While the women are out of the room, George effortlessly unmasks Nick’s ambitions, which have little to do with academics and more to do with accumulating power, even if that means “plowing pertinent wives,’’ including Martha.
Gore is particularly adept at finding the humor in scenes, and then, without hesitation, drawing blood with a potent verbal attack. Watching Martha sink to the floor as George delivers the final, crushing blow, we feel the air sucked out of the room. What’s left are two people at rock bottom. Having reached bottom, their shared struggle with disappointment and disillusion may now lead to redemption.
