The KC Melting Pot Theatre (KCMPT) is set to present an all-Black adaptation of Edward Albee’s classic play, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” May 2 to 11.
The production is set in the early 1960s in the home of a university professor and his wife, who invite a younger couple over for a nightcap after a faculty party. As they entertain their guests at 2 a.m., the couple’s toxic marriage is unmasked in Albee’s provocative look at love, marriage, and privilege.
“This one’s quite a doozy,” says director Ile Haggins. “Albee’s works were absurdist in that he stretched the constructs of social norms to such an extreme that it really challenges our thinking.”
The play is considered an American classic, and it was adapted into a film in 1966 starring real-life couple Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Originally premiered in 1962, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” was considered a bold critique of societal norms and the facade of perfection prevalent during that era.
The KCMPT production will run for about three hours, including two intermissions, so you’re bound to get your money’s worth.
“It’s a roller coaster ride,” says Haggins. “It’s an intense, emotionally charged examination of the main couple, George and Martha, and how they bring this younger, naive couple into their web of games.”
KCMPT’s all-Black staging of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” is rare. For decades, Albee’s estate was cautious about allowing non-White actors to portray the characters, fearing multiracial casting might compromise the play’s impact.
Haggins says that changed when a Howard University professor sent Albee a handwritten letter asking to stage the play with an all-Black cast. Albee himself made edits that changed the setting to Virginia, tweaking character descriptions and dialogue to maintain the play’s spirit and tension.
“It adds some new elements that were just really never explored in Albee’s original work,” says Haggins.
The modified version of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” hasn’t been formally published. Haggins says they had to receive special modifications for the all-Black production from the Albee estate. She equates KCMPT’s adaptation of Albee’s best-known play to other racially conscious adaptations in popular culture like the “Black version” of the TV show “The Wonder Years.”
“They didn’t fictionalize anything, but they took the same premise but instead tell our [Black] stories at that point in history that the masses don’t know,” says Haggins. “That’s why Black theater is so needed because we all aren’t stereotypes that all came out of poverty. Here we have two couples where the men are both professors.”
The production will run at the Just Off Broadway Theatre from May 2 to 11, with ticket prices ranging from $17.50 to $27.50. Select performances will feature audience-and-cast talkbacks, providing an opportunity for deeper engagement with the themes and creative process behind this transformative production.
For more info and tickets, visit KCMeltingPot.com or contact the box office directly at (816) 226-8087.
Cast & Crew
Lynn King as Martha
Louis Morrow as George
Haley Johnson as Honey
Marcel Baly as Nick
Ile Haggins – Director
Laura Burt – Stage Manager
Aalayah Norwood – Assistant Stage Manager
Show Times
Thu., May 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Fri., May 3 at 7:30 p.m.
Sat., May 4 at 7:30 p.m.
Sun., May 5 at 2 p.m.*
Wed., May 8 at 7:30 p.m.
Thu., May 9 at 7:30 p.m.*
Fri, May 10 at 7:30 p.m.
Sat., May 11 at 7:30 p.m.