This dazzling work of gut-wrenching dark comedy presents perhaps the most memorable of married couples...in its power to strip away layer after layer of a social pretense to expose the naked nerve of truth, [the play] is one of the most riveting and unforgettable experiences of the American theater.

A virtually indestructible theatrical construction; although that demolition expert Elizabeth Taylor certainly gave the film version her very best shot, the material somehow survived. The original broadway cast (Uta Hagan, Arthur Hill, George Grizzard and Melinda Dillon) could never be eclipsed, but every staging I've ever seen, almost all of them amateur productions, has worked. George's monologue on "bergin" has served as an audition piece for God knows how many actors. BTW, the answer to the question that begins the play, "What's that from?", is Beyond the Forest, a film that actually serves as a pretty meaningful allusion. ( )

This play is basically about an embittered older couple who use a younger couple as pawns, weapons to use against each other. It's a race to see who can hurt the other one the most. They love each other in a warped, dysfunctional way, but they can't seem to find each other unless they rip each other to shreds.

The play is very disturbing though there are elements of black humor. It was like watching a train wreck; bloody, mesmerizing, and fascinating. You actually feel George and Martha's pain.

Highly recommended. ( )

Reviewed April 2001

I’ve always heard about this play and wanted to know what it is all about. So I snatched it up at the book fair for 50 cents and read it in one evening in a San Francisco hotel. I had no knowledge of its contents except that it is famous. I hated it. The characters were well written and very well defined, as a reader you have sympathy for each in turn. I really hated the story: Only 4 characters and all the scenes are played in one room, this isn’t the problem. I did not like the way the main couple George and Martha bickered and belittled each other in front of the young couple. And the drinking! Maybe that was commonplace in the 60s but i can’t imagine people drinking that much and continuing to talk The ending leaves the reader very sad. This couple is so connected with each other and the loss of all their dreams, very sad. I don’t understand the significance of Virginia Woolf. i also see that Elizabeth Tyler and Richard Burton once played the lead roles, the reviewer of the book sad audiences were held spellbound. I guess I just don’t get it.

9-2001 ( )

Who's Afraid of this play? I am! Still not sure I entirely understand it but definitely a scary look into the world of some twisted relationships and an exploration into some interesting characters. ( )