A one-act play in the absurdist style, The Zoo Story, takes place on a bench in Central Park.

I loved the play, read it in college and just fell in love with theater of the absurd. Continued by reading Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, and went down the rabbit hole with Sartre’s No Exit and Pinter’s The Homecoming.

But here’s The Zoo Story: Jerry, a lonely young man who is struggling to stay sane, and Peter, a well-to-do businessman, have just met each other on this bench - and out of the blue Jerry tells Peter he has been to the zoo. We learn that Jerry is constantly being attacked by his landlady’s dog, and that after he gave the dog some meat, the dog still attacked him. But Jerry and the dog are finally able to leave each other alone by making some sort of esoteric contact.

This was a “moment” - and Jerry tells Peter he went to the zoo to figure out how humans and animals can get along together. Jerry’s rant gets Peter going, and their encounter turns ugly. Jerry acuses Peter of taking up too much room on the bench, and the hostility heats up.

Just in case someone hasn’t read The Zoo Story, I will stop here to avoid a spoiler.

The reason I am fascinated with this play is that readers and critics have major differences of opinion on the meaning and underlying themes. And I can understand all of them. Some say the play is about “finding connection”, others say it’s political, and still others say it’s a scathing critique of the so-called American dream. (Albee wrote it in the 1950s.)

What are your thoughts on this fabulously curious play?

​

​