“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” officially opens in the West End: Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup win over the critics

Edward Albee’s play “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” officially opened on Wednesday evening, September 30, at London’s @sohoplace theatre, marking the return of the American masterpiece to the West End after nine years — as London Theatre reports in the first photos from opening night.

Stars Gillian Anderson and Billy Crudup, as Martha and George, were received enthusiastically by the critics: the reviewer for Monsta Gigz calls Anderson’s performance “one for the history books” and the production “the hottest ticket in the West End right now”. Josh Dylan plays Nick and Phoebe Horn plays Honey. The production is directed by Marianne Elliott, a four-time Tony Award and two-time Olivier Award winner, who has staged it in the round, putting the audience “right in the eye of the storm”, according to Playbill.

The story, written in 1962, follows George, a university professor, and his wife Martha, who after a faculty party invite the young couple Nick and Honey for late-night drinks — where the harsh verbal game erupts into a confrontation that is both difficult to watch and very funny.

Previews began on September 21 and the play runs until December 19, 2026; it is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions. This is the first full revival of the play in London since 2017, with Imelda Staunton and Conleth Hill, as BroadwayWorld recalls.

Anderson herself has said she “has wanted to play Martha for decades”, describing her as “a hellcat — fierce, unstable and impossible to contain”, while Elliott calls the play “one of astonishing emotional precision — brutal, humorous and deeply human”.