''Terrific! With a dynamically deft touch, Philip Gefter chronicles how a uniquely volatile mix of timing, talent, pressure, and passion turned a landscape-altering play into a cinematic detonation. Savor this juicy bit of time travel, because we''ll never see the likes of these people and these circumstances again'' Steven SoderberghFrom its debut in 1962, Edward Albee''s Who''s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? was a wild success and a cultural lightning rod. The play transpires over one long, boozy night, laying bare the lies, compromises, and scalding love that have sustained a middle-aged couple through decades of marriage. It scandalised critics but magnetised audiences. Then, Hollywood took a colossal gamble on Albee''s sophisticated play and won. Co-starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, the sensational 1966 film won five Oscars. How this scorching play became a movie classic-surviving censorship attempts, its creators'' inexperience, and its stars'' own tumultuous marriage, is
