A New Staging Of Albee's Landmark Work

Fresh off his run in High Noon, Billy Crudup will return to the West End, opposite Gillian Anderson, in this new production of Edward Albee's landmark play, directed by Marianne Elliot (Company, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time). Set over the course of one evening, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf brings us into the heart of the marriage of Martha and George, who invite an unwitting younger couple to an after-party at their home. What begins as a nightcap soon escalates as Martha and George draw their guests into the battleground that is their fractured relationship. 

Playing in the round at the @sohoplace stage this winter, the piece is produced by Sonia Freedman and will also star Josh Dylan (Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again) and Phoebe Horn (The Motive and the Cue) as Nick and Honey, the young couple who play audience, and sometimes participant, to Marth and Nick's marriage implosion.

Gillian Anderson

Gillian Anderson has been a magnetic presence on screen and stage for the last three decades. From The X-Files to The Crown, she delivers gravitas and luminosity that has seen her win myriad awards, including two Golden Globes and four Emmys. No stranger to an iconic role, her last West End credits were Blanche DuBois in the Young Vic's 2014 A Streetcar Named Desire and Margo Channing in Ivo Van Hove's 2019 All About Eve at the Noel Coward.

Billy Crudup

The Morning Show star Crudup is a graduate of the prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, and has worked extensively in American theatre, earning him a Tony alongside his gongs for his screen work. More recently, he has steadily been working up his credits in the West End, with turns in High Noon at the Harold Pinter Theatre in 2026 and Harry Clarke at the Ambassadors in 2024.

What Is The Story?

First appearing in 1962 and winning the Tony Award for Best Play the following year, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is certainly one of Albee's most noted works, with the scathing story of a declining relationship retaining relevance for each generation of audiences. In 1966, Director Mike Nichols immortalized both the play and the famously tempestuous relationship of its stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It was last staged in London in 2017, with Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hall. 

GOOD, BETTER, BEST, BESTED

After a party at the university where each of them works, middle-aged George and Martha arrive home with a younger couple, Nick and Honey, in tow. Invited by Martha and to the chagrin of George, the two soon find themselves witnesses to the older couple's increasingly worrying relationship dynamic. Over three acts, Nick and Honey go from horrified observers to finding themselves in the middle of a war of words, becoming players in a full-blown marital breakdown, with explosive consequences.