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The Play About The Baby |
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Author: Edward Albee
Reviewer: David Roberts for Theatre Reviews Limited |
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Paul of Tarsus, that first century peripatetic apostle often accused of sexism and homophobia, probably says it as well as Edward Albee (who is neither sexist nor homophobic) does in his wonderful new play "The Play About The Baby." St. Paul pierces the gloom of the first century Roman church's angst with: "Through him (Jesus) we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope."
  
Mr. Albee's ‘Man' (Brian Murray) says repeatedly to the ‘Boy' (David Burtka): "Without wounds, who are you? Without a broken heart, how can you know who you are? Have been?" The Boy's angst, shared by his female counterpart the ‘Girl' (Kathleen Early), is that this Man and the ‘Woman' (Marian Seldes) he arrives with have come to take away their baby and the Eden-like bliss the Boy and Girl have enjoyed up to the visit. This bliss includes the ability to romp around nude, for the Boy to enjoy his perpetual ‘hardness,' and for the Girl to share her breast milk with both child and helpmate.
If all of this so far sounds strikingly like the biblical themes of Creation, Temptation, Fall from Grace, and Salvation History that's because it is. And much more. It's one of the best existentialist plays written in a long time. In stunningly presented monologues (and dialogues) the Man and the Woman present the somewhat chilling prospect of life just east of Eden, when and where "it could all stop, go away."
"The Play About The Baby" is philosophical, ontological, theological, and pure fun. Words tumble from the actors, spill onto the stage and roll fluidly into the laps of audience members who attempt to gather each "gem" and put it into their gray matter which they hope will churn out some meaning for/to what they are hearing and seeing. Was that some "via negativa" reference I just herd? Is Albee saying there's no difference between the conscious state and the non-conscious? Could he possibly be saying that our experiences waver between reality and fantasy?
Though "Baby" is a rather ‘heady' play, the audience member does not have to "get" every literary or biblical reference to appreciate and understand the play. Because it is so filled with mythos as well as pathos, "The Play About The Baby" touches us in places not controlled by the brain.
Ultimately, this wonderful new play challenges us to examine our own pain and the remembrance of it. Have we been "injured beyond salvation?" Are we experiencing a new millennium where "pain will come as naturally as sleep?" In a refreshing way, Edward Albee asks us the same question humanity has asked itself from its inception, the question that deals with our concept of who we are relative to the creative process we believe "put us here" in the first place; namely the question of idolatry. In Albee's words, "Who did we think we were?"
Life is, as the Boy and Girl learn after their fall from innocence and grace, a "tricky business." What is real and what is not might or might not ever be resolved in our "four score and ten." But we are called to move on. To make our own contribution to the "creative process." "The Play About The Baby" is like a successful meditation session or a couple of hours in a relaxation tank. It frees us up to just "wonder about it all."
Albee's redemption has more to do with acceptance than with release. There is no rescuing the Boy and the Girl from without. No savior or redeemer. Well not yet anyway. There is the hint of liturgy and with liturgy there might come, in time, rite and ritual, totem and taboo, and even some eschatological hope! As the play ends, after the tempter's snare has done its work and the Man and the woman have left, Boy and Girl sit on their respective blue and pink blocks telling one another, convincing one another they "hear the baby."
The four actors bring this play to life in ways that will amaze the audience. One cannot think of a better ensemble to help us "crack the code" of this carefully written and exquisitely thought out play. Bravo to the actors and to director David Esbjornson for making this production work just as it should. And thank you, Edward Albee.
Reviewed on Sunday February 18, 2001
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By Edward Albee. Directed by David Esbjornson. Set design by John Arnone; costume design by Michael Krass; lighting design by Kenneth Posner; sound design by Donald DiNicola; production stage manager, Lloyd David, Jr. Presented by the Century Center for the Performing Arts (J. C. Compton, Founder and Director/William Ralph Odom, Managing Director) and Elizabeth Ireland McCann, Daryl Roth, Terry Allen Kramer, Fifty-Second Street Productions, Robert Bartner, Stanley Kaufelt in association with the Alley Theatre at the Century Center for the Performing Arts, 111 East 15th Street. Performance schedule: Tuesdays through Fridays at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Tickets range in price from $55.00 to $25.00. Reservations can be made by calling Tele-Charge at (212) 239-6200 or by clicking on "Buy Online Tickets" above.
WITH: David Burtka (Boy), Kathleen Early (Girl), Brian Murray (Man), and Marian Seldes (Woman).
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