LIVE ANIMALS ON—STAGE

PAST PRODUCTION

WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?

APRIL 26-27, 2024 DINNER PARTY PRODUCTION BROOKLYN, NY
George and Martha nearly kiss in front of dinner party guests

Live Animals Onstage turned Edward Albee’s marital warzone into an intimate backyard dinner party: courses served, drinks poured, guests seated close enough to feel every toast curdle.

WHO’S AFRAID: A Dinner Party placed the audience at the table for an evening of food, performance, and social combustion. The production used the rituals of hosting - courses, conversation, refills, seating charts, forced intimacy - as the frame for Albee’s brutal party game.

CAST + CREATIVE

CAST

  • Maya Jasinska HONEY
  • John Murphy* NICK
  • Tom Robertshaw GEORGE
  • Alice Zelenko MARTHA

CREATIVE

  • Fiona Selmi DIRECTOR
  • Katherine Mostek PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER
  • Samori Etienne LIGHTING DESIGN
  • Caroline Parker FIGHT AND INTIMACY CHOREOGRAPHY
  • Allie Campbell MENU DESIGN AND EXECUTION
  • Asha Meagher MENU ASSISTANT
  • Chris Washington MENU ASSISTANT

*Appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association

A DINNER PARTY

THE MENU

The audience was not seated outside the party - they were placed inside it. Each course arrived as the evening’s games curdled from civility into spectacle, turning the meal into part invitation, part trap.

Who’s Afraid program and dinner menu on a lace tablecloth

MENU

  • Amuse-bouche: rosemary focaccia with whipped honey ricotta
  • First course: kale and fennel salad with citrus, candied pepitas, and lemon vinaigrette
  • Second course: tomato confit orzo
  • Third course: orange cardamom olive oil cake with ginger rhubarb coulis and labneh meringue buttercream
Rosemary focaccia on the dinner party tableKale and fennel salads being plated for the first course
Audience members seated at a long backyard dinner table under warm string lights
A performer addresses guests seated at a long dinner table
Nick and Honey kiss on an outdoor couch under string lights and rain
Martha stretches her arms out while dinner guests watch
Martha carries plates through the dinner party
George and Nick lean toward one another across the dinner table
Nick grips George by the shirt in front of seated dinner guests
Martha and George hold one another while audience members watch
Martha moves through the backyard playing space with audience members behind her
Martha sits facing George and Nick in a warm-lit backyard
Honey laughs while holding a bottle in a backyard scene
Nick and Honey face one another across the backyard playing space
Nick stands under backyard lights while audience members look on
A black-and-white image of Honey and George seated on a couch
Honey and Nick lounge on an outdoor couch during the dinner party
The Virginia Woolf company gathers together after the performance

Production photos by Alice Westerman and Samori Etienne.