Difference between revisions of "The Zoo Story"

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''[[The Zoo Story]]'' (1958) is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee (born 1928) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Albee].  
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''[[The Zoo Story]]'' is a one-act play by Edward Albee (1928-2016) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Albee].  
  
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==The original text==
  
Albee's first play, it was written in 1958 and was originally titled ''Peter and Jerry'', completed in just three weeks. Offering a brilliant duologue between Jerry, a neurotic outcast, and respectable, bourgeois Peter who meet in Central Park.
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Albee's first play, it was written in 1958 in just three weeks, and was originally titled ''Peter and Jerry''. The play offers a brilliant duologue between Jerry, a neurotic outcast, and respectable, bourgeois Peter who meet in Central Park.
  
'''''The Zoo Story''''' (1958) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoo_Story], originally titled ''Peter and Jerry'', is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee (born 1928) [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Albee]. His first play, it was written in 1958 and completed in just three weeks. It is a brilliant duologue between Jerry, a neurotic outcast, and respectable, bourgeois Peter who meet in Central Park.
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The play was initially rejected by New York producers, and thus premiered at the Schiller Theater Werkstatt in in Berlin on September 28, 1959, in a double bill with the German premiere of Samuel Beckett's ''[[Krapp's Last Tape]]''. The play had its USA premiere Off-Broadway in a production by Theatre 1960 at the Provincetown Playhouse on January 14, 1960, again paired with ''[[Krapp's Last Tape]]''.
  
 
== Performance history in South Africa ==
 
== Performance history in South Africa ==
19**: Performed by students of the [[University of the Witwatersrand School of Dramatic Art]] in [[Nunnery|The Nunnery]], between 1975 and 1983.  
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19**: Performed by students of the [[University of the Witwatersrand School of Dramatic Art]] in [[Nunnery|The Nunnery]], some time between 1975 and 1983.  
  
 
197*: Produced for [[CAPAB]] by [[Kaben Kreu Productions]], directed by [[Mavis Taylor]], with [[Keith Grenville]] (Peter) and [[John Burch]] (Jerry).
 
197*: Produced for [[CAPAB]] by [[Kaben Kreu Productions]], directed by [[Mavis Taylor]], with [[Keith Grenville]] (Peter) and [[John Burch]] (Jerry).
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== Sources ==
 
== Sources ==
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Albee
  
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoo_Story
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoo_Story
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''[[Teaterforum]]'', 4(1), 1983, 113-114.
 
''[[Teaterforum]]'', 4(1), 1983, 113-114.
 
  
 
Theatre pamphlet
 
Theatre pamphlet
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Go to [[South African Theatre/Bibliography|ESAT Bibliography]]
 
Go to [[South African Theatre/Bibliography|ESAT Bibliography]]
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Go to [[ESAT Bibliography]]
  
 
== Return to ==
 
== Return to ==
  
Return to [[ESAT Plays 2 Z|Z]] in Plays II Foreign Plays
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Return to [[PLAYS I: Original SA plays]]
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Return to [[PLAYS II: Foreign plays]]
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Return to [[PLAYS III: Collections]]
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Return to [[PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances]]
  
Return to [[South_African_Theatre/Plays]]
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Return to [[South_African_Festivals|South African Festivals and Competitions]]
  
 
Return to [[The ESAT Entries]]
 
Return to [[The ESAT Entries]]
 +
 +
Return to [[Main Page]]

Latest revision as of 11:41, 11 March 2022

The Zoo Story is a one-act play by Edward Albee (1928-2016) [1].

The original text

Albee's first play, it was written in 1958 in just three weeks, and was originally titled Peter and Jerry. The play offers a brilliant duologue between Jerry, a neurotic outcast, and respectable, bourgeois Peter who meet in Central Park.

The play was initially rejected by New York producers, and thus premiered at the Schiller Theater Werkstatt in in Berlin on September 28, 1959, in a double bill with the German premiere of Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape. The play had its USA premiere Off-Broadway in a production by Theatre 1960 at the Provincetown Playhouse on January 14, 1960, again paired with Krapp's Last Tape.

Performance history in South Africa

19**: Performed by students of the University of the Witwatersrand School of Dramatic Art in The Nunnery, some time between 1975 and 1983.

197*: Produced for CAPAB by Kaben Kreu Productions, directed by Mavis Taylor, with Keith Grenville (Peter) and John Burch (Jerry).

1978: A production in Grahamstown was directed by Carl de Gouveia, starring Christopher Weare and John Burch.

1983: Directed by Noël Roos for the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department in the Keller Theatre in March 1983, starring Neels Engelbrecht and Robert Finlayson.

1988: A Rhodes University Drama Department production was directed by Simon Jones.

1990: Directed by Willie Fritz for CAPAB, starring Peter Butler and Royston Stoffels, opening 28 June 1990 on the Grahamstown Festival Fringe and 13 July 1990 in Cape Town.

2008-2009: Presented by The Mechanicals, directed by Christopher Weare starring Nicholas Pauling and Scott Sparrow at the Intimate Theatre, Cape Town, October-November 2008. This production was also seen on the National Arts Festival Fringe in 2009.

2015: National Arts Festival.

Translations and adaptations

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Albee

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Zoo_Story

Press clipping from Eastern Province Herald, 16 May 1978, held by NELM: [Collection: DICKERSON, Beth]: 2009. 61. 2. 40.

Teaterforum, 4(1), 1983, 113-114.

Theatre pamphlet

The Star 23 June 2009.

Kaben Kreu Productions theatre programme (undated)

Go to ESAT Bibliography

Go to ESAT Bibliography

Return to

Return to PLAYS I: Original SA plays

Return to PLAYS II: Foreign plays

Return to PLAYS III: Collections

Return to PLAYS IV: Pageants and public performances

Return to South African Festivals and Competitions

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page