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Theres a small play playing on Signature Theatres largest stage.
Well, in some ways its small.
But before Albee was a theatrical giant, he was a struggling poet in Greenwich Village.
In 1959 the young writer, feeling hed failed at poetry and fiction, decided to try playwriting.
The Zoo Storymakes up Act Two ofAt Home at the Zoo.
(The playwright and his estate are strict, exerting cantankerous,sometimes controversialcontrol over his works.)
And my only question is … why?
But wait: Mightnt one say the same about any revival of a classic?
What about the hundreds of productions of Shakespeare that fill American stages every year?
The latter start to feel like museum pieces, brought out and dusted off for display rather than reanimated.
The experience often becomes a matter of interest, almost scientific (What will so-and-sos Willy Loman be like?
), rather than a full-bodied shock to the conscience.
Shes a dependable director unfussy and actor-focused.
Hes the explosion of young Albees rage and torment, and his black humor.
Even with a simply passable actor playing him, hes the pulsing, dangerous heart of the piece.
And he still is, even in this expanded version.
AlbeeacknowledgedPeters relative flatness, eventually writingHomelifein an effort to expand the character.
but he cant actually access whatever animal nature is buried deep beneath his button-down.
Leonard and Finneran both acquit themselves well in the plays less fireworks-y roles.
Theres nothingbadhappening up on the stage, but theres nothing particularly spectacular either.
Like Ann and Peters marriage, it is exactly that: very safe.
