Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo

The cynic's rule of thumb is that messing with the classics inevitably mars them: prequels, remakes, spin-offs, all part of the system's blatant, artless grab for cash. So what was this cynic's take on mega-famous playwright Edward Albee hanging a new beginning onto his half-century-old primal scream, The Zoo Story? The Abreact's Michigan premiere of Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo blends the daringly droll with the psychotically unpredictable for an aggressive night of conversation.

In the new first act, entitled Homelife, Peter (Dave Davies) is at home, reading, when he's approached by his wife, Ann (Anne Marie Damman), who announces that they need to talk. In the second act, Peter has relocated to the park, still reading, when he's approached by the transient Jerry (Charles Reynolds), who claims he just wants to talk with someone. The identical frameworks are supported by a mostly open set that encourages duplicated stage pictures and movements, which directors Adam Barnowski and Andrea Smith use liberally to merge the stories of these mirror-opposite relationships into a cohesive whole.

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Happy Season to You, Acquaintance Name

Christmas fatigue is not an acceptable excuse to pass on Happy Season to You, Acquaintance Name. Although this Abreact comedy was originally slated for a December run, the story is more about office politics than Yuletide anything — the holiday setting is primarily a heightening device. It stands to reason that if being snowed in at the office is bad, then being snowed in at the office on Christmas Eve is a special form of torture.

It's supposed to be the last day at work for Jason (Travis Grand), but after manager Bonnie (Michelle Becker) forces him and the few remaining employees to wait out their shifts despite the bad weather, the whole gang is stuck indefinitely with no one but a new young security guard to protect — or unintentionally menace — them. The players are confined to the employee break room, a dreary little place carefully appointed with touches of banality any office worker will appreciate. (Thanks to whoever butchered the "Youre Mother Doesnt Work Hear" notice and hung near-identical posters of waterfalls, one labeled SERENITY and the other SERVICE, expertly setting the tone.)

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