She may have been born on the other side of the Atlantic, but Gillian Anderson has long since become an honorary British national treasure. From inspiring thousands of girls to actually take GCSE biology as FBI Special Agent Dana Scully, to her as sex-positive icon Dr Jean Milburn warming our TV screens, she’s enriched us with unforgettable roles.
Recently, we saw her latest masterpiece as M&S’ “Chief Compliments Officer” (CCO), where she exuberantly complimented the nation. Now the Queen returns to London’s West End – this time in an intimate production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Soho Place from September.
Read: Won the Barcelona election and immediately activated interest in Andreas Schelderup
Anderson will take on the role of the acidic Martha – a rookie iconic made by Elizabeth Taylor in the original film adaptation. She is joined by Billy Crudup, who plays her husband George.
Legendary roles in a legendary performance
It’s not the first time Edward Albee’s classic has been staged; The play has had several productions in recent years. The roles have previously been interpreted by legends such as Imelda Staunton, Rupert Everett and Kathleen Turner – to name a few.
The plot follows a late night at the home of the married couple George (an Ivy League university professor) and his wife Martha. In the wee hours of an American college campus, Martha has – much to George’s chagrin – invited the new professor Nick and his wife Honey home for an after-party. As the alcohol flows and the night progresses, the young couple are drawn into George and Martha’s poisonous game. The evening reaches its climax in a moment of unforgiving truth.
Read on The Sport: Jude Bellingham can finally land in the Premier League
Josh Dylan and Phoebe Horn play Nick and Honey in this production, which is directed by the award-winning Marianne Elliot (Tony and Olivier) and produced by Sonia Friedman Productions.
The play will have a limited performance period from September 21 to December 19 – and with such an intimate venue as Soho Place, tickets will probably disappear quickly. Tickets are already on sale via sohoplace’s website, from £30 up to £110 for the best seats.
Gillian Anderson: An Unparalleled Career
Anderson has built an impressive career spanning four decades. After her big break as the skeptical and science-oriented Dana Scully in The X-Files (1993–2002, 2016–2018), she won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe. The role made her an icon for an entire generation and a role model for women in science.
She has since shown an enormous range – from the cold and manipulative politician in House of Cards (2017) to the sex-positive and warmly human Dr. Jean Milburn in Sex Education (2019–2023). For the latter, she garnered another Emmy nomination. She has also excelled in roles such as Miss Havisham in the BBC’s Dickens adaptation Great Expectations (2023), and as Margaret Thatcher in The Crown (2020), a role that earned her second Golden Globe.
On the theatre stage, she has made a strong mark, including in Ibsen’s Ghosts (2016) and All About Eve (2019) in the West End. Now she returns to her theatre boyfriend – with a role that could be her definitive stage kingdom.
Read: The insane amount of money Donald Trump’s golf game is costing American taxpayers
