Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play by Edward Albee that opened on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theater on October 13, 1962. The original cast featured Uta Hagen as Martha, Arthur Hill as George, Melinda Dillon as Honey and George Grizzard as Nick. It was directed by Alan Schneider. Subsequent cast members included Henderson Forsythe, Eileen Fulton, Mercedes McCambridge, and Elaine Stritch.

Because of the unusual length of the play (over three hours), prior to the opening a matinee company was also hired that performed twice a week and featured Kate Reid as Martha, Shepperd Strudwick as George, Avra Petrides as Honey and Bill Berger as Nick. As with the evening company, these matinee performances also sold out.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? won both the 1963 Tony Award for Best Play and the 1962–63 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play. Its stars won the 1963 Tony Awards for Best Actor and Actress as well. It was also selected for the 1963 Pulitzer Prize for Drama by that award's drama jury. However, the award's advisory board—the trustees of Columbia University—objected to the play's then-controversial use of profanity and sexual themes, and overruled the award's advisory committee, awarding no Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1963.

The title Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a pun on the title of the song "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" from Walt Disney's The Three Little Pigs (1933), substituting the name of the celebrated English author (1882–1941).