hilarious and harrowing

Playing in rep with God of Carnage

Theatre's most dysfunctional married couple burst onto the stage courtesy of South Coast Repertory this season. Join the company as they stage the infamous marital discordance of George and Martha and the psychological games they begin with their naive new friends after inviting them over for a nightcap in Edward Albee's seminal play.

First appearing in 1962 and winning the Tony Award for Best Play the following year, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is certainly one of Albee's most noted works, with the scathing story of a declining relationship retaining relevance for each generation of audiences. In 1966 Director Mike Nichols immortalized both the play and the famously tempestuous relationship of its stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

GOOD, BETTER, BEST, BESTED

After a party at the university where each of them works, middle-aged George and Martha arrive home with a younger couple, Nick and Honey, in tow. Invited by Martha and to the chagrin of George, the two soon find themselves witnesses to the older couple's increasingly worrying relationship dynamic. Over three acts, Nick and Honey go from horrified observers to finding themselves in the middle of a war of words, becoming unwitting players in a full-blown marital breakdown, with explosive consequences.