Play about the Baby: Trade Edition

To be the fourth reviewer for a play originating in 1998 and published first in 2003, from America's greatest living (read: accomplished, awarded, distinguished, scathing, etc.) playwright seems, well, somehow to mark the state of theatre, play going and play reading very clearly. This is a horror play, a mind-messing, unprovoked rape of the sensibility and energy of youth and reason. Where any abundance of joy and hope is dashed first, then exposed, if lucky. Boy and Girl are newly-weds, and she is pregnant opening the story. Girl gives birth, and as casually as that they are parents. Man and Woman are here too. Expounding on the oddities and ironies of life, they cease any theatrical construct and refer to the audience at will, inviting us in to what becomes and experiment, or an exorcism. Like Nick and Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Boy and Girl are taken on a ride by Man and Woman, brought into the open, exposed and scarred ("Wounds, children, wounds. Learn from it. Without wounds, what are you? If you don't have a broken heart..."), to perhaps be made even more whole, as they are forced to shed their skin of simple beauty, joy and love. If the "whole thing" is really about the "baby," meaning survival and procreation, the simple yet vital act we are obsessed with, in order to keep going is here eviscerated. The commercial love and joy of parenthood picked on and torn, the easy-in-easy-out given as shallow, and the true rites of passage amidst life are shown to be the knowledge of damage, hurt, abandonment, falsity, lies. Brilliant Albee.

There was a time when all of Edward Albee's plays were published during or just after their runs. Even lesser known works such as The Lady from Dubuque and Everything in the Garden made it into print. So it is a delight to see that Overlook Press has issued The Play About The Baby in hardcover and will do the same with The Goat in May, 2003. If any American playwright needs to be in print, it is Edward Albee.The Play About The Baby is Albee in vaudeville mode. The characters -- Man, Woman, Boy and Girl -- inhabit a timeless space where they engage in games of love, loss, pain and memory. The most obvious precursor here is Albee's own Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. However, instead of the hypernaturalism of the earlier play, Albee goes for vaudeville this time. In fact, TPATB's Man and Woman might be George and Martha from Who's Afraid, having left New Carthage and now wandering around dispensing their hard-earned (and often unwanted) wisdom. (Or are Boy and Girl just George and Martha at an earlier phase of their lives? Albee's graceful allusiveness and ambiguity are in full force here). Either way, TPATB's humor, while less caustic than its predecessor's, is just as entertaining and theatrical. But don't let me mislead you: both plays are scathing in their assessment of human behavior and clear in their demand that human beings look closely at themselves and the world in which they live. Albee is not out to comfort his audience (has he ever been?), but to confront them -- to wake up, take stock and abandon their cozy pipe dreams. Like O'Neill, Albee writes of the deadening illusions men and women wrap themselves in; like Williams he challenges the system of mendacity that rules people's lives.If you were lucky enough to see The Play About The Baby when it ran Off-Broadway, reading it now will only deepen your appreciation for Albee's artistry. If you are coming to the work for the first time, look forward to a feast of stimulating wit and ideas.

After all these years, Edward Albee still remains on top of his game. This play is classic Albee with the trademark sarcasm, biting dialogue, and socially critical themes...but with contemporary sensibilites that help keep the play from feeling old or recycled. It's also one of his funniest plays in quite a while. And, of course, Albee continues to push the envelope by tackling provocative subject matter. While this play doesn't rise to the heights achieved by Who's Afraid of Va. Woolf or Tiny Alice, it certainly ranks up with the top 1/3 of his work. Strongly recommended. A must have for any die-hard Albee fan...and should be on the short-list for any Albee virgins.

Edward Albee's The Play About The Baby, is a wonderfully written masterpiece, that is definitely worth the read. The jokes and witty remarks, that were not catched when viewed on stage, are clearly evident and will keep you entertained for hours. The play is about a younger couple who are madly in love with eachother, and in turn, have a child. Trouble arises, when an older couple steals the baby. Edward Albee's superb writing, turns the plot into an adventure that will leave you begging for more. It is one of the most enjoyable plays that I have read in a long time, and I suggest that you give it a try.