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One of the most comedic and terrifying plays of all time- the marital discord of George and Martha will forever linger on to the reader who's experienced their sadistic games on poor, unsuspecting Nick and Honey.

Part dark comedy of a couple who's gotten way to used to each other's sadism and masochism, and a wicked evening of goading and fun and games turns into a horrifying and profoundly sad, meditation on loss and grief.

Also, the play riffs on the toxic and the meditative notions relationships of all types, especially with themes of aging, sexism, and even LGBTQ undertones are way more apparent in the play than the film.

Martha is predatory and sadistic towards both Nick and Honey; George’s characterization hovers between a masochist and a sadist who enjoys to punish- nonetheless, I can totally see how this play shocked it’s audiences, and delighted gay men. I even read that actor Henry Fonda had been interested in acting in the play as gay characters. It is all CAMP, with a capital C- until the fun stops.

The inclusion of the indomitable Bette Davis being imitated at the beginning of the play foreshadows and also underscores the queer sensibilities of Albee’s dark tale.

I have never seen this live, but the Mike Nichols film version starring the gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor as Martha; and the viewer can see that she had thrown all shreds of vanity off herself; and the brutal performance that Taylor's real life spouse, Richard Burton inflicts as George will crawl under your skin as the film ends.