Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf | The Sleepless Critic

REVIEW: Theater Uncorked’s ‘The Lion in Winter’ a resonating roar in deceit and dysfunction

Posted on December 14, 2024 by The Sleepless Critic

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.”

Here lies the marrow when royalty, family, power and possibly love collide in The Lion in Winter, a historical drama that may itself be fictional, but a number of conflicts in the production within this real life monarchy are based on historic events. This famous quote from Scottish poet Sir Walter Scott may be cautionary in nature and The Lion in Winter seems like a cautionary tale in some familial aspects, but these wildly tangled webs are far beyond fixing and are need of a reckoning.

With scrupulous direction by Allison Olivia Choat, Theater Uncorked presents James Goldman’s rarely performed drama The Lion in Winter live and in person at Boston Center for the Arts at the BCA Plaza Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, December 15. The production contains adult themes and is approximately two hours with one intermission. Click here for more information and for tickets.

Sehnaz Dirik center Thain Emrys Bertin James Honaker and Finian Ross in Theater Uncorked’s ‘The Lion in Winter’ Photo Credit: Gary Ng

The Lion In Winter has been adapted into an Academy Award-winning 1968 film starring Peter O’Toole as King Henry II and Katherine Hepburn as Eleanor of Aquitaine. Though both actors were nominated for Academy Awards, Katherine Hepburn won for Best Actress. The Lion in Winter was also later adapted into a lesser known TV movie in 2003 starring Sir Patrick Stewart as King Henry II and Glenn Close as Eleanor of Aquitaine.

Set designer Leonard Chasse delivers medieval festive hauling out the holly for Christmas adorning gold and red velvet tables, a regal coat of arms on the wall and a pair of keenly lit crosses while candlelight by lighting director Erik Fox not only casts ambient light, but adds a foreboding quality to much of the production.

Finian Ross and Sehnaz Dirik in Theater Uncorked’s ‘The Lion in Winter’ Photo credit: Gary Ng

Theatre Uncorked does dysfunction well. They certainly made a case for the Eliot Norton award-winning Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf last year diving into extreme marital dysfunction and this year, a royal battle as three sons vie to become the next King of England as Christmas approaches in 1183. Anthony Mullin as Henry II has high hopes for one son, but Sehnaz Dirik as recently imprisoned Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine has other plans. It shares some similarities with Shakespeare’s King Lear and the play is even mentioned during the production. However, nothing is as it seems and the crown and succession feels like a smaller detail in the grand scheme of this family’s maladies.

Like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Lion in Winter visits some of the darkest places of the human condition, and not only reflects the frustration in a toxic marriage but explores neglect, betrayal, grief, mortality, oppression, war and an unscrupulous hunger for power. It also has its share of satirical humor in its veiled slights, quips, and deadpan style of manipulation. Each member of the family is playing a long game to achieve each of their desired objectives and as soon as you think you have a grasp of what is happening, the tables turn.

Anthony Mullin and Sehnaz Dirik in Theater Uncorked’s ‘The Lion in Winter’ Photo Credit: Gary Ng

The Lion in Winter boasts two powerful leads in Anthony Mullin as charismatic and egotistical King Henry II and Sehnaz Dirik as Queen Eleanor. Complicated does not begin to describe their relationship and like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, King Henry II and Queen Eleanor’s relationship have many layers in their decades long marriage and one cannot think of how dangerous it can be to know someone all too well. Mullin’s clever and shrewd King Henry to Dirik’s witty and scheming Eleanor put on more than a game face fueled by their passion and stubbornness vying for the upper hand in everything. Dirik is a natural at Eleanor’s underlying vulnerability behind her machinations with only the audience the wiser.

Micah Livesay and Matthew Zahnzinger in Theater Uncorked’s ‘The Lion in Winter’ Photo credit: Gary Ng

Micah Livesay is sympathetic as loyal and susceptible Alais as she struggles in her twisted role while Matthew Zahnzinger as Alais’s egotistical brother Phillip stealthily bides his time on his next move as King of France.

The sons seem like pawns and wish I had a deeper understanding of who they are. All longing for love more than anything else and acting out about it in distinctive and destructive ways. Finian Ross as impressionable John, James Honaker as calculating Geoffrey and Thain Emrys Bertin as complex yet valiant Richard all work best while conspiring with each other.

Matthew Zahnzinger James Honaker and Finian Ross in Theater Uncorked’s ‘The Lion in Winter’ Photo credit: Gary Ng

The Lion in Winter is a bit lengthy contemplating the game more than it builds tension, though it is intriguing to see how each move plays out. Whatever this family has next up their sleeve, it is certainly far from a Norman Rockwell Christmas.

Theater Uncorked presents James Goldman’s rarely performed drama The Lion in Winter live and in person at Boston Center for the Arts at the BCA Plaza Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts through Sunday, December 15. The production is approximately two hours with one intermission. Click here for more information and for tickets.

REVIEW: Toting brilliant performances, Theater UnCorked’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ a twisty, no holds barred stunner

Posted on December 13, 2023 by The Sleepless Critic

George and Martha are unhappy.

As they say, nothing good happens after 2 a.m. In the early morning hours in 1961, George and Martha arrive home from a faculty party, but their evening is far from over. Theater UnCorked offered an up close and personal peek into the brewing chaos of their living room as astonishing events begin to unfold on the grounds of this small New England college.

Nimbly directed by Ben Delatizky, Theater UnCorked presented Edward Albee’s Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf for one weekend only from December 6-10 live and in person at the BCA Plaza Black Box Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts. This show is divided in three parts, is a meaty 2 hours and 30 minutes with two intermissions, and is appropriate for mature audiences. Click here more information and for more on Theater UnCorked’s upcoming performances.

The cast of Theater UnCorked’s ‘Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ Photo Credit: Gary Ng

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf was also famously adapted into a 1966 Academy Award-winning motion picture starring powerhouse couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton as well as Sandy Dennis and George Segal. While all four actors were nominated for Academy Awards, only Taylor and Dennis won for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.

The show opens with Martha dramatically recalling one famous Bette Davis quote, but another Bette Davis quote, ‘Fasten your seatbelts! It’s going to be a bumpy night!’ might be more accurate. Her husband, George is not amused.

Each member of this small cast depicts their characters with searing finesse. Edward Albee’s renowned and controversial script adds a darkly comedic tone to these multifaceted characters and the events that follow. At times, the show is sympathetically funny and at others, one cannot help but laugh nervously at the growing tension. This moving, complex, and raw production successfully hinges on Albee’s meticulous pacing and critical chemistry between each of these dynamic characters.

Brooks Reeves as George and Shana Dirik as Martha in Theater Uncorked’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ Photo credit: Leonard Chasse

Without a bad seat in this intimate theatre, the audience was nearly immersed in the action onstage. Mike Mcteague’s horn-infused sound design maintains a foreboding tension and melancholy between each scene while Sehnaz (Shana) Dirik’s scholarly and sophisticated retro set and props include a wet bar, large bookcases, globe, couch and dark wooded vintage style end tables with ashtrays seemingly right out of the 60s. Popular albums of the era and turntable are on display and a particularly notable Sinatra album, My Way is cheekily front and center. Even the doorbell has a vintage and nostalgic chime. From darkly bold to flowered pastels, Richard Itczak’s multicolor costume design accentuates each character’s unfolding disposition.

The 60’s set of Theater UnCorked’s ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ Photo Credit Gary Ng

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf is lengthy, but anything but boring. These are highly intelligent and substantial individuals who share cerebral conversations, each with a veiled agenda. With a condescending cackle, Sehnaz (Shana) Dirik portrays vivacious but worn Martha. Dirik has remarkable chemistry with her perceptive and calculating Associate Professor husband, George, depicted by Brooks Reeves. Reeves has a talent for bringing to life complicated characters with a dark underbelly and he and Martha teeter from malevolent to bickering to seeming adoration at the drop of a hat. Brooks and Dirik deliver powerhouse performances because Albee’s script invites no less. The physicality, the endurance, and the sheer energy that it takes to capture these characters can be exhausting and yet, Brooks and Dirik are more than up to the challenge. At one point, Reeves and Dirik are so invested in the sheer magnitude of this twisty production that one cannot help but be moved by the tracks of Reeves’s tears and Dirik’s wild yearning.

Brooks Reeves as George Shana Dirik as Martha Anthony Rinaldi as Nick and Brooke Casanova as Honey in Theater Uncorked’s ‘Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf’ Photo credit: Gary Ng

Anthony Rinaldi portrays affable department professor Nick while Brooke Casanova depicts naïve Honey, a polite married couple from the Midwest. Both comically reflect what the audience might be thinking at first and at one point, Casanova as Honey is literally clutching her pearls. They make an amiable and fascinating pair as their motivations gradually come to light in unexpected ways.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf has many layers and one cannot think of how dangerous it can be to know someone all too well. George and Martha have been together for 23 years and they know exactly which button to push for what they want. Some marriages do not always have the other’s best interest at heart and this coupling for the ages.