Peter And Jerry

photo: Sara Krulwich

****1/2

Second Stage

When the curtain rises on the Edward Albee's Homelife, Act One to The Zoo Story's Act Two, sitting there on the sofa is Peter and sitting on the table in front of him is a tiny cell phone. It is never used but it is a vital prop that zoomed us directly into the post-millennium. Albee was updating his 50 year old classic?? How he was going to go about it? Cut to Act 2. Wow. Aside from the name dropping of one modern author and a bit of welcome profanity, I detected no significant change. Zoo 49 years later still works in the now and is continues to be as shocking and relevant as ever. And Homelife, a husband/wife conversation that evolves far beyond typical afternoon banter, is loaded with that vintage Albee language- you know- where one person says something and then ponders what they've said and then re-phrases their thoughts? Love that. Homelife gently grabs us, picks us up, shakes us up and down a bit and then sets us down in Central Park to wander down a familiar path with a completely new perspective. And the director/cast? Pat MacKinnon/Bill Pullman, Johanna Day, and Dallas Roberts? Perfect. This is theater at its finest. Don't miss it.

The ACE train intermittently rumbled underneath the Second Stage theatre. Nice touch.