"The Zoo Story" is the first play by American
playwright Edward Albee. It was written in 1958.
The play is about a confrontation
that happens in New York's Central Park. The characters are Jerry, who is an alienated and unhappy
homosexual; the other person is Peter, a middle-aged ordinary straight guy. The play explores themes of isolation, loneliness, social disparity and dehumanization in a commercial world.
Peter is a middle-class publishing executive with a wife, two daughters, two cats and two parakeets who lives in ignorance of the world outside his settled life. Jerry is a disheartened and troubled guy who lives in a boarding house.
The two men meet on a park bench in New York City's Central Park. Jerry is desperate to have a meaningful conversation with another human being. He intrudes on Peter’s peaceful state by interrogating him and forcing him to listen to stories from his life that includes in particular "The Story of Jerry and the Dog" and also the reason behind his frequent visits to the zoo.
The ironic humor and dramatic suspense are brought to a climax when Jerry brings his victim down to his own savage level. Jerry frustrates all attempts of Peter to leave him alone.
The shocking ending transpires when Peter eventually announces, "I really must be going home;..." in which Jerry, in response, begins to tickle Peter. Peter giggles, laughs and agrees to listen to Jerry finish telling "what happened at the zoo." At the same time Jerry begins to push Peter off the bench. Peter gets angry. Unexpectedly, Jerry pulls a knife on Peter, and then drops it as initiative for Peter to grab. When Peter holds the knife on instinct, Jerry charges him and serves himself on the knife.
Now bleeding on the bench, Jerry finishes his zoo story by bringing it into the immediate present, "Could I have planned all this. No... no, I couldn't have. But I think I did." The horrified Peter flees from the scene, away from the dying Jerry. Finally, Jerry has succeeded in tricking Peter to help him (Jerry) to his planned death. It's a very absorbing play.