Since its sensational début on Broadway more than sixty years ago, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? has become an enduring classic of the modern American canon. Its depiction of warring middle-aged couple Martha and George, and their drawing of young couple Honey and Nick into the gravitational field of the savage, alcohol-fuelled contretemps their marriage has become, remains a perennial favourite of the English-speaking theatre. Like moths, actors of a certain vintage are drawn to its bright flame, which shone never more brightly than in the superlative 1966 film adaptation directed by Mike Nichols, with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the starring roles.

The play has been frequently performed in Australia; the AusStage database lists sixty-five productions, the first just two years after its 1962 US première. As recently as last year, State Theatre Company SA staged a contemporised revival that, while not wholly successful, at least attempted to inject new life into the play via colour-conscious casting and an unconventionally non-realistic set.