Comedy (and Tragedy) Tonight at Adams Pool

What happens when two ordinary people have two extraordinary days? This is the question explored by The Zoo Story and The Actor's Nightmare, two one-act plays performed back-to-back at the Adams Pool Theater last weekend and this weekend. A tragedy and a comedy, these plays explore similar themes in not so similar ways.

The Zoo Story opens with two people from two different worlds encountering each other in a New York City park. Peter (Jason Mills), a publishing executive, is looking forward to spending a relaxing Sunday afternoon reading on his park bench. He does not anticipate meeting Jerry (Paul Siemans), who proceeds to spend the next hour dramatically changing Peter's outlook on life.

The conversation begins with Jerry asking directions and promising an interesting story about an adventure at the zoo. Slowly it becomes a monologue on Jerry's ultimately tragic life, laced with underlying messages about the meaning of life in general.

Siemans does an excellent job conveying the complex character of Jerry. As he leaps around the stage, his monologue moves rapidly from rambling narration to blunt social commentary to moments of intense rage. Still, behind all of this anger is a man searching for love and understanding. This is best illustrated by, as Jerry puts it, "The Story of Jerry and the Dog," a tale about his relationship with his landlady's dog. The story, like the play itself, begins humorously but ends tragically. The unusual way in which Jerry seeks love serves only to push others away, further isolating himself.

Mills' role as Peter is mostly to react to Jerry, but he does this well. It is easy to see in Mills' face how Peter passes from amused to shocked to visibly shaken as Jerry narrates the story of his life. Curled on the park bench, shaking from, it seems, both laughter and tears as a result of Jerry's stories, Peter's very straight, conventional outlook has been destroyed.

The Zoo Story is built around the motif of opposites. Peter and Jerry lead very different lifestyles: Peter has the conventional family life with a wife, two daughters, two cats and two parakeets, while Jerry lives alone in a rooming house with two empty picture frames. The theme of opposites supports the decision to perform The Actor's Nightmare, directed by Hilary K. Snow, right after The Zoo Story, pairing the tragedy with a comedy.

The Actor's Nightmare has a similar premise: a man who leads a very conventional life suddenly has his world turned completely upside-down. In this case, however, the story follows a different path. Scott Brown plays George Spelvin, an accountant, who one day finds himself in a theater and is expected to perform. Now it is the "normal" man who finds himself out of place.

The play George is supposed to be in keeps changing--from Private Lives to Hamlet to A Man for All Seasons--and George is frustrated by the fact that he doesn't know his lines or what is expected of him. At one moment he unexpectedly drops his pants, only to look down, surprised and confused, and say, "I didn't mean to do that." The more he grapples for the correct lines, the funnier the play becomes. Left alone on stage to deliver a Hamlet soliloquy, George runs through all the lines he has ever memorized, from the Pledge of Allegiance to quotes from Gone With the Wind.

Brown's character may not know how to act, but Brown definitely does. His timing is perfect; half of the comedy is in his blank stares and looks of confusion. The rest of the cast is equally funny, switching roles as the plays change. Mills appears in The Actor's Nightmare, too, demonstrating his versatility as an actor.

The combined efforts of directors Michael Friedman and Hilary Snow have produced a theater experience that is both enjoyable and thought provoking. Placing The Zoo Story and The Actor's Nightmare back to back, Friedman and Snow have allowed the plays to compliment each other. It is a night of comedy and tragedy, but also a night of good theater.