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Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup give towering performances in Edward Albee’s intense 1962 drama, about a middle-aged couple engaged in vicious, liquored-up psychological games to hide the core sadness of their marriage. Marianne Elliot’s production turns a mid-century modern living room (by the ever-excellent Miriam Buether) into a slowly revolving gladiatorial arena, perfect for this in-the-found venue. At three hours and 20 minutes it doesn’t stint on the methodical savagery.
The shifting dynamics and brutally funny repartee of the central couple are immaculately mapped. Anderson is as good as you’d hope and expect as the bleary, destructive Martha, but Crudup is a revelation as George, wounded but quick-witted and nimble, like a greying mongoose battling a striking snake. After the London misfires of his solo show Harry Clarke and a prattling, musical High Noon, we finally see what the Broadway fuss was about.
