Zoo Story: Play or Reading?

December is a barren time for author readings and subject matter for postings is usually limited to “Best Books” and “Worst Books” and “Most Underrated Books.” With this in mind, I’ve temporarily expanded the scope of the blog to local theatre. It’s still all about words, right?

Earlier this week my older daughter and I checked out Decatur’s PushPush Theatre's final performance of the Edward Albee’s 1958 one-act play, Zoo Story.  Sheepishly I’ll admit it’s the first time I’ve been there since PushPush hosted a screening of the documentary Paperback Dreams.

My daughter who attends plays regularly in Boston (she has a secret ambition of starting a Moliere theatre troupe so graduate students can practice their French) appreciated the performances of Tim Habeger and Charlie Adair who play two men whose opposite worlds collide at a picnic bench in Central Park.

I’m not sure why only six people attended (holiday week, chilly temperatures, a strong local dislike of the Americanization of The Theatre of the Absurd?), but that made no difference to me or the actors as they remained unfazed even when one of the patrons spilled his M & Ms onto the stage. In a way, the sparse short play like Zoo Story is similar to a reading – and in this case better than most readings -- because at the most basic level it is about the words and who knows better how to say the words than someone with a little stage experience.  

Important Note:  Zoo Story is the first of what PushPush calls its The Working Masterpiece Series. According to their website,  PushPush “will produce a series of low-budget, classic plays to give theater and film people a chance to gain experience with some of the greatest writers of stage and screen.” Next play is Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker.