Are you the person who always ends up sitting next to the looney on the bus? If you're fed up listening to the bigoted opinions, conspiracy theories and crashingly dull anecdotes of people with more nose-hair than you have on your whole body, you will identify with the plight of Peter.
Peter is the perfectly normal owner of a house, a wife, two daughters and two parakeets, who occupies a bench in Central Park every Saturday to read and enjoy the outdoors. On this occasion, he is approached by Jerry who at first irritates Peter by his insolent enquiries and attempts to engage him in conversation. Eventually, Peter gives in and his irritation turns to pity as he learns of Jerry's tragic childhood and current poverty. Jerry does not want to hear his expressions of middle-class guilt, however. He begins to dominate the conversation and becomes more oppressive as his stories turn from the offensive (poisoning his landlady's dog) to the threatening. Edward Albee's play moves inexorably towards the tragic ending that Jerry has planned and of which Peter is the unwitting victim.
Zoo Story was performed at the Broadway Cinema Terrrace on 15th May 2004
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