By Reviewed by Jason Blake
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?
Greek Theatre, Addison Road Community Centre, Marrickville, December 1.
Striking: Christian Charisiou as the cynical young biologist Nick and lead actor Deborah Galanos as Martha.Credit: Rocket K
Until December 17
★★★
Lounge-lizard seediness: Nicholas Papademetriou as George and Adele Querol as innocent-seeming Honey. Credit: Rocket K
We don't have the tradition of the "Alan Smithee" credit in the theatre. If we did, this production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? would probably deserve one.
Smithee's is the name movie studios slap on a film that a director has disowned for some reason: a clash of egos, perhaps, or a fight over the final cut. Or maybe the whole damn thing just turned out lousy.
In this case, a media release sent out three days before opening night informed that Virginia Woolf's director Shane Bosher, "has had to regrettably step aside … [citing] conflicting work commitments as his reason for leaving the production at this time."
That Bosher's name has been excised from foyer and program (he didn't even make the thank-you list) leads one to assume the split wasn't amicable. So it goes, perhaps, when a director is the hireling of producers who have cast themselves in the show's lead (and bucket list, I'm guessing) roles.
It's enough to create an aura of trepidation around opening night. After all, Woolf is a three-hour ride. If we are in for a car crash, it's going to be a long one.
I can report, however, and with a certain amount of relief, that this production has turned out better than you might hope, given the circumstances.
From the get-go, Nicholas Papademetriou and Deborah Galanos, this production's George and Martha, strike as persuasive, or at least persuasive enough. Played with a touch of lounge-lizard seediness, Papademetriou rightly gives the impression of a man who knows what's coming and why it must be done. Galanos flares impressively as her coarse-grained, sensually hungry Martha warms to the task of humiliating her husband and cathartically exposing her damaged self.
Christian Charisiou and Adele Querol provide strong catalysing support as the cynical young biologist Nick and his innocent-seeming wife Honey. Charisiou is solidly across Nick's conflicted feelings of lust, ambition and disgust. Querol reveals a gift for comedy as her gawky, drunken mid-west girl loses control of her mouth, limbs and, just before interval, the contents of her stomach.
Played on a raised thrust stage and realised on a shoestring budget, this Woolf looks staid when compared with Benedict Andrew's brilliant, harrowing, glass-boxed Belvoir production of 2007, and there are niggles a director would highlight in a post-show notes session (stagey half-turns to the audience, for example, unnecessary in this theatre). This particular performance wasn't without its unique issues, too, when a couple of foggy passages of play allowed accumulated tension to leak away.
Even so, this is a commendable effort, driven by actors backing themselves in roles they might never get to play otherwise.