“Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?”
designer's program notes

The many Themes running through ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf?’ give the designer a wealth of choices, but it is also a play the requires very little visual commentary. Essentially Albee has written this play in a naturalistic setting – 1962 living room, American University home.  The approach Director, David Field and I took was to always remain true to Albee’s script as possible.  With this in mind I included all of Albee’s written elements of stairs, kitchen, hall, front door, window etc.  I kept the setting specific to the period, letting its relevance to today speak for itself.  For me, the design challenge was to achieve these things without granting the audience the comfort zone of complete realism.  

The theme of breaking illusions is very strong in this play.  This gave us the opportunity to play with the illusion of the theatrical experience.  The constructed set with homely comforts combined with forced perspective and unsettling angles is, like George and Martha’s fantasy, a fragile reality.

It was important to create and intimate space where the focus would always remain on the actions and words of the four characters.  It was with this in mind that I picked up on the themes of war and game playing.  George and Martha’s living room becomes the arena where the games are played, battled, fought and blood spilled.  The audience is close to the stage witnessing the unfolding of the action from ringside seats, perhaps sometimes too close for comfort.

Victoria Lamb 2003