At Home at the Zoo
by Edward Albee
presented by The Actor's Theatre Company
directed by Warren David Keith
starring Richard D. May, Patrick Russell, & Diane Barnes
4 performances: 9/30, 10/2, 10/7, 10/8
doors at 6:30pm, show at 7pm
$10 suggested donation
at the Tenderloin Museum
398 Eddy St. San Francisco, CA 94102
Tenderloin Museum presents the inaugural production of The Actor’s Theatre Company: four performances of Edward Albee’s At Home at the Zoo that for the first time features a minority cast in the lead roles.
At Home at the Zoo is an expansion of the celebrated playwright’s very first play, The Zoo Story (1958), which explores a chance encounter in Central Park between strangers, well-to-do publishing exec Peter & down-and-out loner Jerry. The two come together in physical space but are separated by a gulf of disparate social class and lived experience. Years later, Albee felt like Peter was two dimensional in comparison to Jerry and added a prequel act that explores Peter’s marriage to Ann and to flesh out his character. That prequel, Homelife (2004), turned out to be Albee’s final play, so the two pieces that comprise At Home at the Zoo bookend the legendary playwright’s career.
The Actor’s Theatre Company was founded by Richard May, a longtime Tenderloin resident and alumnus of both A.C.T. and the San Francisco Recovery Theatre. Its first production reframes Albee’s modern classic by casting Peter & Anne, the play’s affluent Manhattanites, with Black actors: May performs the role of Peter, and Diane Barnes plays Anne. This choice is a first for productions of At Home at the Zoo, inflecting on the tenor of Albee’s exploration of human relationship in both subtle and significant ways. Patrick Russell is in the role of Jerry, and Warren David Keith directs.
The Tenderloin Museum is grateful to May & The Actor’s Theatre Company for bringing a powerful and thought-provoking piece of theater into the heart of the Tenderloin! There are four opportunities to catch the show over two weekends. Tickets are $10 (suggested donation; no one turned away for lack of funds) and will be sold at the door. Shows are at 7, doors at 6:30pm.