Albee won the Pulitzer Prize for his 1966 play "A Delicate Balance," and he does the screenplay here as well. There are those who see this particular play as a second-rate "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" which truthfully surprises me because I see little in common between the two plays. Albee's earliest and obviously greatest work was at its heart a dramatic rejoinder to Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh," and a statement about the importance of fantasy when confronted with a harsh world. "A Delicate Balance" is about the angst of contemporary living, and while this might be a counterpoint of sorts to "Virginia Woolf" it is most definitely not rehashing the original argument.
Hepburn's name appears first in the credits and her character of Agnes opens and ends the play, but ultimately she is not one of the pivotal characters in the drama. The play begins with Agnes and Tobias (Paul Scofield), enjoying what passes for a quiet evening at home, which includes an encounter with her heavy-drinking sister Claire (Kate Reid). Whereas Agnes speaks to the long-suffering Tobias, Claire actually engages the man in conversation. The only thing the two sisters have in common is apparently the ability to bring out the worst in each other.
The play gets to the root of the matter when Harry (Joseph Cotten) and Edna (Betsy Blair), the best friends of Tobias and Agnes, arrive unexpectedly. Clearly upset, they finally explain that they were at home when suddenly they both became terrified. Fleeing their home they have come to stay with Agnes and Tobias (although it takes a while for everyone to understand Harry and Edna are moving in). The couple take up residence in the room of Julia (Lee Remick), who returns home after the failure of her fourth marriage to discover somebody else in her room, which forces Julia into her father's room and Tobias to move back with Agnes. However, Julia is very upset that "her" room has been given away and finally says what the audience has been thinking: How can her parents just let this couple move in?
There are explanations, haltingly provided by Harry and Edna. We might want everything to be explained by Claire with her forthright way of speaking or Agnes who belabors a point to death, but Albee is here to show and not merely to tell. There are very few moments, brief at best, that ever show the entire cast assembled. Director Tony Richardson knows he is limited to a few sets and these actors, and frames them accordingly, trying to provide visual reinforcement of the interpersonal dynamics.
The biting wit and memorable one-liners from "Virginia Woolf" are not here, but the characters are clearly in as much pain. The pivotal moment comes down to Scofield and Cotten, when Tobias finally speaks to the matter at hand, only to be told it is too late. The question then becomes whether or not the audience has gotten Albee's subtle point.
Hepburn's recent death may spark a small revival of interest in this film, although Albee's play remains overshadowed by both "Virginia Woolf" and his more recent success "Three Tall Women." However, it will be the performances of Scofield and particularly Reid that will demand the viewer's respect. Tobias is the lynch pin of these drama and Claire is the one that prods him into the final realization of what has to be said and what must be done.
