THREE TALL WOMEN, Edward Albee’s deeply pessimistic play, is about death and dying. “There is a whole difference,” he points out, “between knowing that you are going to die and KNOWING you are going to die.”
Martha Henry, the distinguished American-Canadian actress, knew she was dying of cancer when she was acting in Albee’s play at Stratford Festival Theatre, Ontario, Canada.
She died on 21 October 2021, twelve days after her final stage appearance. She was 83. She had acted in more than 70 productions at Stratford and directed 14 others.
Albee’s lead character, played by Martha Henry, is a very wealthy and very old widow, and she is based on Albee’s adoptive mother, who chucked him out of her house when he was 18 years old.
The first act, practically a monologue, is about the indignities of old age and its humiliations, incontinence, loss of memory and loneliness. The old lady’s rambles on: one minute she is lucid and sharp, the next she is muddled and pathetic, either roaring with laughter or sobbing uncontrollably.
Occasionally she is interrupted by her companion/nurse (Lucy Peacock) and her lawyer (Amie Zwettler). She gives an unforgettable description of herself at her dressing-table, naked, except for her jewellery, and being offered a bracelet by her naked and erect husband in exchange for sex.
At the end of the first act, she has a stroke. At the beginning of the second act, she is bedridden. The three actresses are now recast as the 92-year-old’s younger selves at different stages of her life: young (Amie Zwetter), middle-aged (Lucy Peacock) and old (Martha Henry).
The first act looks backwards. The second act looks forwards. “I’ll never become you, either of you!” asserts the 26-year-old. The 52-year¬-old and the 92-year-old are bemused by her naivety, knowing only too well the miseries which await her.
Martha Henry performs from a wheelchair and her performance, mischievous, autocratic and proud, is a tour de force, powerful, brave, fearless. Her memory and energy are amazing. There are excellent performances, too, from Lucy Peacock and Amie Zwetter. Diana Leblanc directs this major production, a fine memorial to Martha Henry’s talent.
Albee’s Three Tall Women is up there with Albee’s best, which includes Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, A Delicate Balance and All Over. It’s well worth seeing.
Stratford Festival’s Three Tall Women was captured live on 16 September 2021 and can be viewed on Stratfest@Home. To find out more and to visit the website follow this link.
To learn more about Robert Tanitch and his reviews, click here to go to his website 
