Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is set to return to London’s West End in a brand new production starring X-Files favourite Gillian Anderson as Martha and The Morning’s Show’s Billy Crudup at @sohoplace theatre from 21 September until 19 December 2026.
Set in the round, this fierce new production draws every spectator right into the eye of the storm… In the early hours of the morning on the campus of an American college, Martha, much to her husband George’s displeasure, has invited the new professor Nick and his wife Honey to their home for some after-party drinks. As the alcohol flows and dawn approaches, the young couple are drawn into George and Martha’s toxic games until the evening reaches its climax in a moment of devastating truth-telling.
Gillian Anderson says, “Martha has built a persona to survive the emotional battlefield that she and husband George inhabit. She’s described by George as a ‘hell cat’. Ferocious, volatile, and impossible to contain. The short sharp quip also hints at the deeper tragedy beneath her wounded pride and bravado. Martha’s rage is inseparable from her longing, her disappointment, and her need to be seen; all things still eminently relatable 60 years on. I’ve wanted to play Martha for decades and thrilled Billy Crudup is joining me in the ring as George.”
Director Marianne Elliott adds, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a play of astonishing emotional precision—brutal, witty, and deeply human. What excites me most is the opportunity to explore the volatility and tenderness at its core with two actors as fearless and intelligent as Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup. Albee writes with such fervency about love, illusion and survival, and I’m so excited to dive into that world with them and rediscover just how alive and bold this play is.”
The cast is completed by Josh Dylan, best know for his co-lead role in the BritBox series Tommy & Tuppence, as Nick, and Phoebe Horn as Honey.
Producer Sonia Friedman reflects, “Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is one of the defining plays of the modern theatre – raw, ferociously funny and devastating in equal measure. To bring it to life with actors of the calibre of Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup, under the direction of the extraordinary Marianne Elliott, is a thrilling prospect. Staged in the round, this production will place audiences right inside George and Martha’s dangerous games, in a play that remains as shocking and truthful today as when Albee first wrote it.”
Nica Burns of @sohohouse theatre adds, “Sonia Friedman has brought together an outstanding creative team. We are excited that the first American classic to be presented @sohoplace will offer a different experience – thrillingly up close and personal – of Albee’s intense play in the intimacy of our in-the-round auditorium.”
Tickets HERE
