One of theatre’s most-celebrated plays, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, is making its way back to Broadway. Starring in the production will be two-time Tony-winner Laurie Metcalf who is currently headlining on Broadway in Hillary and Clinton, and comedian and actor Eddie Izzard, himself nominated for his performance in the 2003 revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, which is scheduled for a limited engagement that will begin previews on March 2, 2020 toward and April 9 opening, will be directed by Joe Mantello (Wicked).
Laurie Metcalf has won two Tony Awards in the last two-years, in 2017 for her performance in Lucas Hanath’s A Doll’s House, Part 2, and in 2018 for her turn in Albee’s Three Tall Women. Other Broadway credits include My Thing of Love, November, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Other Place, and Misery. Nominated for an Academy Award for her work in the film Lady Bird, Metcalf is best-known to television audiences for her Emmy-winning performance on the situation comedy Roseanne.
Eddie Izzard is a British standup comedian whose comedy special Dressed to Kill won an Emmy Award for Best Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. He has appeared in a vast array of films including Velvet Goldmine, The Avengers, Mystery Men, All the Queen’s Men, Ocean’s Thirteen, Across the Universe, and the forthcoming Six Minutes to Midnight. Besides his Tony-nominated performance in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Izzard appeared on Broadway in 2010 as a replacement in David Mamet’s Race.
Joining Metcalf and Izzard onstage in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf will be Russell Tovey (Angels in America in the West End, The History Boys) and 2019 Olivier Award winner Patsy Ferran (Summer and Smoke). Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? will feature set design by Scott Pask, lighting design by nine-time Tony Award winner Jules Fisher & three-time Tony Award winner Peggy Eisenhauer, and costumes by Tony and Academy Award winner Ann Roth.
Edward Albee’s 1962 play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is often ranked with Death of a Salesman and A Long Day’s Journey Into Night as one of the great American plays of the 20th Century. It tells the story of George and Martha, a college professor and his wife who ae hosting a late-night get-together with a younger a couple at their home. Initially, what is a playful night of cocktails and small talk devolves into a haunting display of a broken marriage crumbling in hellfire and raw emotion.
Mark Robinson is the author of the two-volume encyclopedia The World of Musicals, The Disney Song Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Television Theme Songs. He maintains a theater and entertainment blog at markrobinsonwrites.com.