Edward Albee is a playwright probably best known for ‘Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ and being personally unfamiliar with his other works I was excited to see a production of his first play, ‘The Zoo Story’ at the ever-wonderful Theatre Delicatessen.
The one-act play has only two characters and it’s action unfolds in real time as the pair converse on a park bench in Central Park, New York. An difficult work to stage well, it relies on the actors being able to hold the audience’s attention completely and pull them into the dramatic suspense and building of tension.
Heather Morgan’s production with the Without Walls Theatre Company managed just that. A minimalist set placed unassumingly in the corner of a room left the actors exposed completely and right next to the audience. It was an intimate set up that echoed the intimacy and intensity of both the play and the performance.
Ardi Mejzini’s fractured and chaotically energetic Jerry contrasted perfectly with the restrained, polite awkwardness that poured from Samuel Holland’s Peter and the two spiraled towards the frantic and dramatic death of Jerry in perfect synch.
All in all another great evening at Theatre Delicatessen from another bunch of remarkably talented people. We’re a lucky city.
Words: Sara Hill.
Images courtesy of Heather Morgan.
