Tom Williams

For some strange reason, Edward Albee felt he had to write a first act in 2004 to his 1959 one-act, The Zoo Story. Maybe he felt that more theatres would produce the work if it was a full play? So now, if you want the rights to do ‘Zoo,’ you must do it as At Home at the Zoo. The result is to make patrons sit through a slowly unfolding yet serviceable prequel.

We meet Etta (Mary Ann Thebus), spry senior and devoted wife to her 91 year-old husband, Gerald (William J. Norris)-who suffers from extreme dementia. We see Gerald rant oblivious to who is around him. Sadly, we learn that he was a famed music professor. Tom, (Ernest Perry, Jr.), the the other resident who everyone believes is deaf.

These two parts of the healthcare plays are riveting theatre. They play together and separately. I’m not sure who the audience is for Let Me Down Easy or Mercy Strain since 20-30somethings and seniors alike don’t like to speak or thing about death and sickness. But the two performance (by Usman Ally and Michael Milligan) compel us to get to ATC.

I can say that I had some issues with the highly theatrical take on the 19th Century Gothic novel. While the color-blind inter-racial casting works fine, the use of such accurate RP British accents was so dominate that the cast got so overwhelmed with their sounds that their characters came off as period-dressed costumes living in their RP speech at the expense of being believable real characters. Add much screaming and, at times, rapid-fire talking and many important plot details got lost in the over emotional over-the-top performances.

Death Tax suffers from a too extreme plot that necessitates us believing that nurses are easily corrupted and that nursing home can keep an unhealthy patient alive for more than twenty years. Also, no one seems willing to consider that Maxine’s paranoia is a delusion. Since Maxine is so nasty,I couldn’t care what happens to her. Death Tax is simply to contrived. The performances were terrific, especially from Deanna Dunagan and J. Nicole Brooks.

Set in the 1790’s, Lucidus Culling (terrific performance by Brian Plocharcyzk) is a cowardly young gentleman who hate violence as he just wants to study bugs and butterflies to his father’s dismay. Nathaniel Culling (the intense Stephan Walker) demands that his son protect the family honor by dueling with anyone who insults the family. So when the hapless Lucidus initiates a duel, father is pleased but Lucidua is terrified at the thought. His foppish pals, Gavin (Ian McLaren) and Robert (Spenser Davis) understand Lucidus’ fear. Robert suggest that he hires a common criminal to fight the duel in his place.