As I write this, thousands of protestors "occupy" Zuccotti Park, across the street from Four World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, to protest the economic polarization of America. Some see this event as a disorganized mob squatting in the name of class envy. Others view it as the vanguard of American progressivism, a necessarily chaotic response to an economic hydra. Either way, it's pretty obvious to most of us that the middle class lost adequate governmental representation, and some of us have had enough. In fact, Occupy Wall Street is a response to the same crisis that inspired the Tea Party: Our Congress works against 99% of us in order to bolster those few voters it cares about.

Look, I can't claim any great insight into this debate. What I can say is it's just one visible expression of an old conversation. As proof, Toy Boat Theatre offers The Zoo Story, Edward Albee's 1958 two-hander in one act. Director Brie Yost wisely sets the play in the mid-‘60s and allows us to observe the parallels for ourselves. Scott Campbell, until recently Yost's boss at Tacoma Little Theatre, plays Peter, a publishing executive with the expected wife and two kids, plus pets. He resembles no one more than Roger Kaputnik, cartoonist Dave Berg's befuddled establishment type from Mad magazine, complete with pipe and Brylcreem. Luke Amundsen pours his heart and soul into Jerry, who sees a chance meeting with Peter as an opportunity to vent some intense frustrations. The fuse is lit on this character from minute one.

Every element works. Toy Boat's mission statement promises "good acting in a humble house" and delivers on both fronts. Why, I'd even call Amundson and Campbell's performances outstanding. Their show's political without being didactic, heightened without being melodramatic, and poetic sans pretension. Your ticket includes a hot-dog supper and band performance; so if you feel the urge to occupy someplace, I'd start there. The Zoo Story rocks.

[Toy Boat Theatre, The Zoo Story, through Oct. 22, $20, 7 p.m. dinner, 8 p.m. performance, 9 p.m. live music Thurs.-Sat., 1314 Martin Luther King Way, Tacoma, 253.879.3330]