By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 26 September, opens 30 September and runs through 19 December 2026 RUNTIME: 210 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Gillian Anderson gave us the definitive Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire at the Young Vic on a revolving stage a decade ago and here performs a similar trick as Martha.

• Read on for reasons including how Anderson’s performance is 1 for the history books as she gives an unforgettable take on a classic role

We last saw Imelda Staunton in this role in February 2017 at the Harold Pinter Theatre and you join us in 1962, when this Edward Albee classic was written, as Martha waits with her middle-aged husband George at 2am on a Saturday night in their New England home to see if the young couple she met at a party that night and invited over to theirs for drinks afterwards will show.

George is an associate professor of history and his wife Martha is the daughter of the president of the college where George teaches.

The young couple do arrive with Martha taking a shine to 28-year-old biology professor Nick, who was also a college boxing champion, while his shy wife Honey feels all the more out of place.

What follows is less Abigail’s Party and more Martha’s after party with George serving the drinks while both interrogating Nick and Honey and verbally sparring with his wife who’s rather taken an obvious liking to the handsome younger man much to his pleasure.

Staunton’s production infamously asked the audience to consider their food and drink choices but Anderson performs with such brazen allure here that refreshments will be the last thing on the minds of those watching.

The beauty of @SohoPlace is that at just 600 or so seats this performance in the round feels like that we have front row seats even if we don’t quite have as Anderson’s character literally clambers drunkenly along the raised extremities of the circular stage leaving those watching in no doubt about how ravenous she’s feeling.

Billy Crudup (High Noon, Harold Pinter Theatre) as George is much better than we’ve ever seen him almost giving as good as he gets, Josh Dylan gives us an arrogantly horny Nick and Phoebe Horn’s Honey is well deserving of your sympathy.

We spy director Marianne Elliott (Les Liaisons Dangereuses, National Theatre) in the audience almost directly opposite us and we imagine she, like us, is in awe of Anderson’s magnetism and is delighted at quite how electric this production is.

Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? is a tough watch not least because of its running time but also very funny as 2 adults who know and, deep down, love each other very much as they know exactly which buttons to press to torture each other expertly before a younger couple watching on in horror.

But Anderson’s performance is 1 for the history books as she gives an unforgettable take on a classic role making this the hottest ticket in the West End right now.

• Pictures via Facebook courtesy Nimax Theatres and @SohoPlace. Tickets
• Have you seen a Gillian Anderson show before? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this review? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook