At Home at the Zoo at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

At Home at the Zoo

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
9390 N Santa Monica Blvd Beverly Hills

The Wallis and Deaf West Theatre deliver their sign language take on Albee's classic short play The Zoo Story and its acclaimed prequel Homelife. Together, these short plays form At Home at the Zoo, a revealing look at Peter and Ann's rocky marriage and Jerry, the volatile stranger Peter meets on a Central Park bench. The New York Times calls the play "an essential and heartening experience." The Wallis' Coy Middlebrook directs this new production featuring both deaf and hearing actors.

Thru - Mar 26, 2017

Tuesdays: 8:00pm

Wednesdays: 8:00pm

Thursdays: 8:00pm

Fridays: 8:00pm

Saturdays: 2:00pm & 8:00pm

Sundays: 2:00pm & 7:00pm

Price: $40-$60

Show Type: Drama

Box Office: 310-246-3800

www.thewallis.org

At Home at the Zoo Reviews

Average Rating based on 5 reviews

Highly Recommended
Recommended
Somewhat Recommended
Not Recommended

Los Angeles Times - Somewhat Recommended

"...The casting of Russell Harvard as Jerry sets up difficulties. (Tyrone Giordano takes over the role on March 16.) Harvard's Jerry seems substantially younger than Kotsur's Peter, creating an odd dynamic between the characters. Jerry's relative youthfulness lends an Oedipal current to his antagonism toward Peter, undermining the class resentment that Albee stresses and banishing the subtle homoeroticism between them."

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- Charles McNulty

Broadway World - Highly Recommended

"...Throughout both acts, poor Peter can't catch a break to just relax and read. It reminds me of how I often feel about my cell phone constantly interrupting me when I am trying to focus on writing, breaking my train of thought. I feel his pain, as will you as this mild-mannered man is mentally drilled to examine his life in ways he would prefer not to face. This second collaboration between The Wallis and Deaf West Theatre provides a powerful and engaging theatrical experience as it examines Albee's take on the animal in humanity."

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- Shari Barrett

LA Splash - Recommended

"...Director Coy Middlebrook skillfully helms this complex production with two actors playing each of the three roles. Both casts do an excellent job of coordinating their roles (speaking and signing). In the first act, Peter's and Ann's "alter-egos" stand behind slender bars in the apartment. In the second act, Peter's and Jerry's "alter-egos" stand next to a second bench in the park. The entire production team does a competent job of creating two sets which can blend into one as needed. This is an intriguing take on Albee's play and is worth a trip to the theater to see what happens when hearing and non-hearing audiences are combined."

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- Elaine L. Mura

Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended

"...Edward Albee fans will find themselves in absurdist heaven, more traditionally minded theatergoers may wonder what all the Albee hoopla has been about, but both will relish the experience of seeing Edward Albee's At Home At The Zoo (the playwright's name is part of the title) translated into American Sign Language and performed by three of Deaf West Theatre's brightest stars at Beverly Hills' Wallis Annenberg Center For The Performing Arts."

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- Steven Stanley

Stage Raw - Highly Recommended

"...Director Coy Middlebrooks elicits fine performances from both the signing actors and the speaking ones, melding their disparate efforts into a unity. Kotsur gives us a canny and richly detailed portrait of Peter, and Zion as Ann is wonderfully wanton in her attempts to unleash the fire in Peter's peace-loving nature. But Harvard's Jerry is more problematic; he's so antically flamboyant that he sometimes seems to be competing with the words rather than illuminating them."

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- Neal Weaver

At Home at the Zoo Photo Gallery

At Home at the Zoo at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts

At Home at the Zoo

At Home at the Zoo Reviews

Los Angeles Times - Somewhat Recommended

Broadway World - Highly Recommended

LA Splash - Recommended

Stage Scene LA - Highly Recommended

Stage Raw - Highly Recommended

At Home at the Zoo Photo Gallery

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