Emmy nominees Calista Flockhart and Zachary Quinto will star as Martha and George, respectively, in a new Geffen Playhouse production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in Los Angeles next year. Directed by Gordon Greenberg, performances are slated to begin April 19, 2022, at the Gil Cates Theatre.
For the uninitiated, Edward Albee’s play follows an older married couple who invite a younger pair over for drinks and games. As the night wears on, dark secrets begin to spill out, sending both relationships on a destructive path.
In addition, the Geffen has added Fernanda Coppel’s King Liz to its current season, marking its West Coast premiere. The work, which runs July 12–August 14 at the small-scale Audrey Skirball Kenis Theatre, follows a sports agent who goes after a rising basketball star, only to find herself triaging the young man’s career after accusations of misbehavior arise. Additional casting and a creative team for both productions will be announced at a later date.
The Geffen Playhouse’s 2021-2022 season began in September with David Kwong’s The Enigmatist, which recently extended through November 28. The slate continues with the West Coast premiere of Dominique Morisseau’s Paradise Blue (November 9–December 12, 2021) at the Gil Cates Theater. Starring in the West Coast premiere are Tyla Abercrumbie, Wendell B. Franklin, Alani iLongwe, John Earl Jelks, and Shayna Small. Stori Ayers directs.
Next up at the Gil Cates is Tony and Emmy winner Bryan Cranston leading the cast of Paul Grellong’s Power of Sail (February 1–March 13, 2022). The cast also features Amy Brenneman, Hugo Armstrong, Tedra Millan, and Seth Numrich, with Soulpepper Theatre Artistic Director Weyni Mengesha directing and Daryl Roth producing.
The Gil Cates season concludes with Matt Schatz’s musical A Wicked Soul in Cherry Hill (June 21–July 24), directed by Mike Donahue. Over at the Audrey Skirball Kenis, Lindsay Joelle’s TRAYF (March 1–April 10) will run followed by Anna Ouyang Moench’s Man of God (May 24–July 3), with both productions directed by Maggie Burrows. As previously announced, the West Coast premiere of Matthew Lopez’s Tony-winning The Inheritance will kick off the 2022-2023 season.
Prior to the shutdown, Flockhart was tapped to star in a Boston production of An Ideal Husband, but the pandemic scrapped those plans. Most recently, Quinto reprised his performance as Harold in the stage-to-screen Netflix adaptation of The Boys in the Band, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play in 2019.
