Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is one of those stories that I have heard bandied about for many years but it is another of those that I have never actually had the pleasure of watching until I got the opportunity to go and watch it at Curve Theatre, Leicester and I am so glad I went.

Edward Albee’s script is wordy but oh my goodness it is clever and under Cara Nolan’s superb direction this production is sublime.

The set and costumes, both designed by Amy Jane Cook, were a joy to behold. When so many modern shows have a moving set sometimes for the sake of moving, it was lovely to see the static living room of George and Martha’s home with not a set change throughout – unless you count the ‘tidying up’ done by Martha in the first few minutes with her discarded dinner plate! The set and costumes were subtly enhanced by the lighting, designed by Jamie Platt with the final piece of the puzzle, the sound by Jack Baxter, all added to a wonderful evening of entertainment.

I mentioned earlier about how wordy the script it but these four actors pulled it off brilliantly. There was no tripping over words and the flow of the performances was on point. The interactions between each of them was fluid and captivating; at some points heartbreaking, some vicious and at other times funny and relatable.

Cathy Tyson’s Martha was a wonderful counterpoint to Patrick Robinson’s George. The animosity between them, the arrows of barbed wit and then the absolute tenderness at the end left me laughing occasionally and gobsmacked at the nastiness that was brilliantly portrayed by both these actors.

Add to the mix the pompous arrogance of Nick (George Kemp) alongside his ditzy bride, Honey (Tilly Steele), and the alcohol-soaked evening is set for ‘games’ such as “Hump the Hostess” and “Bringing Up Baby”. Honey’s slide into abject inebriation is so funny to watch – her vacant stares as she tries to comprehend the wordy sword play between the other three actors and her almost childlike responses remind me of Janet from Rocky Horror Picture Show – the naivety of youth about to be ripped into a real world that is horrid and scary alongside her egotistical husband who is more interested in furthering his career by using Martha, the Dean’s daughter, and scoring points against George than looking after his arm candy wife. His derisory comments about poor Honey tells us that he will be off as soon as the chance arises. Let’s just hope she had a pre-nup in place.

The show is long – approximately 3 hours and 20 minutes with two intervals – but it doesn’t feel long when you are actually watching it as you become totally immersed in the performances waiting for the next animosity-filled shot to be fired. Those two intervals are, I can imagine, the time for some very much needed toilet breaks for the cast given the amount of liquid downed throughout the performance. I can imagine there are also some breaks woven in by Cara Nolan for that very purpose!

I have used a lot of superlatives throughout this review because I honestly think it is an excellent piece of work. I thought The Mountaintop was good but this show just slightly edges that. Well done to all involved – you deserve the praise.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf runs until Saturday 8th November at The Studio, Curve Theatre and you can get tickets from here.