Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is a 1962 play by
Edward Albee. It examines the breakdown of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive an unwitting younger couple, Nick and Honey, as guests, and draw them into their bitter and frustrated relationship. The play is in three acts, normally taking a little less than three hours to perform, with two 10-minute
intermissions. The title is a
pun on the song "
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" from
Walt Disney's
Three Little Pigs (1933), substituting the name of the celebrated English author
Virginia Woolf. Martha and George repeatedly sing this version of the song throughout the play.