''Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo'' (formerly titled ''Peter & Jerry'') is a play by Edward Albee which adds a first act to his 1959 play ''

The Zoo Story ''The Zoo Story'' is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. His first play, it was written in 1958 and completed in just three weeks. The play explores themes of isolation, loneliness, miscommunication as anathematization, social di ...

''. This first act, also called ''Homelife'', revolves around the marriage of Peter and Ann and ends with Peter leaving to go read a book in

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...

Background

The Hartford Stage commissioned ''Homelife'', which Albee had been considering "as a way to compensate for what he perceived as lapses in ''Zoo Story''."Gordon, Jane
"Theater Review. An Albee Revival (and a Premiere)"
''New York Times'', June 6, 2004 Albee "said in recent interviews that he felt that Peter needed to be explored in more depth than he had been in ''Zoo Story''. So he wrote a prequel, ''Homelife'', which together with ''Zoo Story'' make up Hartford Stage's new offering, ''Peter and Jerry'',"

Productions

The play had its world premiere at the

Hartford Stage Hartford Stage is an American 501(c)(3) non-profit regional theatre company located on Church Street in downtown Hartford, Connecticut. Since its founding in 1963, Hartford Stage has won the Regional Theatre Tony Award (1989) and many Connectic ...

Company, Connecticut in June 2004. The play was directed by

Pam MacKinnon Pam MacKinnon (born January 9, 1968) is an American theatre director. She has directed for the stage Off-Broadway, on Broadway and in regional theatre. She won the Obie Award for Directing and received a Tony Award nomination, Best Director, fo ...

, with the cast of Frank Wood (Peter),

Frederick Weller Frederick Weller (born April 18, 1966) is an American actor known for portraying Johnny Sandowski on ''Missing Persons,'' Shane Mungitt in '' Take Me Out'' and Marshall Mann on ''In Plain Sight''. Early life Weller was born in New Orleans, Lou ...

(Jerry), and

Johanna Day Johanna Day (born 1964) is an American actress. She was nominated for two Tony Awards for her performances in the 2000 play '' Proof'' and the 2016 production of the play ''Sweat''. Her other accolades include a Helen Hayes Award and an Obie A ...

(Ann). The play opened Off Broadway at the

Second Stage Theatre Second Stage Theater is a theater company founded in 1979 by Robyn Goodman and Carole Rothman and located in Manhattan, New York City. It produces both new plays and revivals of contemporary American plays by new playwrights and established wri ...

on November 11, 2007 and closed on December 30, 2007. The play opened under the title ''Peter and Jerry'' and consisted of two one-act plays, ''The Zoo Story'' and ''Homelife.'' Directed by Pam MacKinnon, the cast featured Johanna Day,

Bill Pullman William Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American actor. After graduating with a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater, he was an adjunct professor at Montana State University before deciding to pursue acting. He made his film debut in ''R ...

(Peter), and

Dallas Roberts Dallas Mark Roberts (born May 10, 1970) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Milton Mamet in the third season of AMC's '' The Walking Dead'' (2012-2013), Eliot Delson on '' Unforgettable'', and Owen Cavanaugh on ''The Good Wif ...

(Jerry). The play received 2008 Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Actor in a Play, Bill Pullman and Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Johanna Day. At a 2009 production of the play in Philadelphia it was retitled ''Edward Albee's At Home at the Zoo''. The play was produced at the American Conservatory Theater (ACT) in San Francisco, from June 5, 2009 to July 5, 2009, under the title ''At Home at the Zoo''. The play was directed by Rebecca Bayla Taichman, with Anthony Fusco (Peter), Manoel Felciano (Jerry) and René Augesen (Ann). The play was produced at the

Arena Stage Arena Stage is a not-for-profit regional theater based in Southwest, Washington, D.C. Established in 1950, it was the first racially integrated theater in Washington, D.C. and its founders helped start the U.S. regional theater movement. It is ...

, Washington, D.C. during their "Edward Albee Festival". The play ran in March and April 2011, directed by Mary B. Robinson.

Critical response

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 to ...

, in his review of the 2007 Off-Broadway production for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote: "What makes ''Peter and Jerry'' such an essential and heartening experience... is the chance it affords to compare the dramatist of then and now. Mr. Albee is, among other things, a chronicler of life as erosion. Yet in seeing these works side by side you discover that growing older does not have to mean creative atrophy. ''The Zoo Story'' is infused with a young man’s frustration and hormonal energy, while ''Homelife'' is the product of an older, more contemplative mind."Brantley, Ben
"Theater Review. 'Edward Albee's Peter And Jerry'"
''New York Times'', November 12, 2007

References

External links

* {{Albee Plays by Edward Albee Plays set in New York City Off-Broadway plays 2008 plays