Director of Philanthropy Carter Hedberg recommends Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Philip Gefter.
“What a dump!” Martha exclaims in her best Bette Davis imitation, kicking off the boozy journey of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
Thus begins Edward Albee’s masterpiece. I’ve always loved the play, which I saw at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, starring Sir Patrick Stewart and Mercedes Rhuel. At least once a year, I watch the film adaptation, starring Elizabeth Taylor as Martha and Richard Burton as George.
So, imagine my excitement when the book, Cocktails with George and Martha: Movies, Marriage, and the Making of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was released.
By 1966, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were not only towering Hollywood stars but also one of the most famous celebrity couples in the world. Their real-life romance captured the public’s imagination, and their fiery relationship added to the depth of their portrayals in the film. The film became a critical and commercial success and garnered thirteen Academy Award nominations and five wins, including Taylor’s gutsy performance which won her a second Oscar.
Gefter’s book delves into the off-screen and on-screen interplay between Taylor and Burton, exploring the ways they helped shape the film. But the book goes beyond the film and Taylor and Burton. It also gives insight into Edward Albee, the brilliant playwright behind Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.
Albee’s revolutionary hit play, first staged in 1962, was a shocking portrayal of a tumultuous marriage filled with cocktails, contradictions, mind games, and love.
Cocktails with George and Martha offers a fascinating look into the dynamics of George and Martha, one of the most iconic fictional couples in American theater. It not only pays homage to Albee’s masterpiece but also provides an in-depth perspective on how the play became a film, the explosive, real-life marriage of its stars, and how first-time director Mike Nichols pulled it all together into a groundbreaking film.
According to author Gefter, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? “is not just about one marriage. It’s about marriage.” For fans of the play, the film … or marriage, this is a delicious must-read. To steal another quote from Bette Davis, this time from All About Eve, “Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night.” Nothing could be truer than a night with George and Martha.
