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The Bulletin - Philadelphia's Family Newspaper - Middlebrook, Deaf West Produce 'Zoo Story' For Hearing Impaired
Philadelphia - American playwright Edward Albee is perhaps best known for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," the whip-sharp and caustic 1968 play revived several years ago on Broadway. But it's his first work that reveals a more focused vehemence on his themes. After all, this play was written in a three-week frenzy after Mr. Albee quit his job at the Western Union on his 30th birthday.
"Edward Albee's The Zoo Story" concerns two men who meet on a park bench in Central Park, seemingly different but with the same voracious appetite for human interaction. For the first time in Philadelphia, this absorbing absurdist play further explores the need for communication by using two sets of characters; one who use sign language and one who speaks.
The highly-accomplished director Coy Middlebrook first staged the production with Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles last January. Now, in association with Penn Presents and Creative Access's PaH Festival, Mr. Middlebrook and four very talented actors are ready to stage another run of this American classic.
"It's a beautiful reflection of the pain and loneliness of an isolated life," said Mr. Middlebrook. "One character is living on the margins of society, while the other is a well-to-do guy on the Upper East Side. But both are starving for contact, and to find meaning within someone else. That sense of desperation is harrowing."
In this production, the two sets of actors work together to provide deeper insight into the worlds of characters Jerry and Peter. The speaking actors don't merely talk from the side of the stage, but move around and interact, echoing the characters and adding insights to their emotional states.
"It really helps you enter into the world of the human psyche," Mr. Middlebrook said. "The two speakers are very much involved in the action, and help to provide an inner dialogue that is exciting to watch. It definitely adds another dimension to the characters."
Mr. Middlebrook, who has been directing since he was 15 years old, has worked on a variety of shows. He recently was associate director of the highly-acclaimed "Big River," which opened at Deaf West Theatre and was so well received that it made its way to Broadway and an international tour. He most recently directed the world premier of "Nobody's Perfect" at the Kennedy Center, which will tour the 2009-10 season.
Mr. Middlebrook was inspired to stage "Edward Albee's The Zoo Story" with Deaf West Theatre after considering how the visual dimension would affect the work.
"Jerry has a six-page monologue that is quite daunting for a director," said Mr. Middlebrook. "How do you make it captivating and engage the audience? I started wondering how sign language would elevate the scene, and what it would look like visually."
After receiving positive feedback from fellow members of the Actor's Studio in New York, Mr. Middlebrook got in touch with Deaf West Theatre. The company, formed in 1991 to improve the cultural lives of the 1.2 million deaf and hard-of-hearing around L.A., was immediately interested. And merely months after the successful run, the Philadelphia advocacy group Creative Access contacted him for their PaH Festival, which runs now through Nov. 20.
The sign language actors in the Philadelphia production are two acclaimed Broadway actors who worked previously with Mr. Middlebrook on Big River. Tyrone Giordano plays Jerry, and has starred in various plays and movies, including "The Family Stone" with Diane Keaton and Sarah Jessica Parker. Troy Kotsur portrays Peter, and recently acted with Jim Carey in "The Number 23."
Mr. Middlebrook is currently the associate director in the national tour of "High School Musical," but he considers the weekend in Philadelphia an opportunity to revisit an already enjoyable experience.
"It's such a blessing to spend time away from a work," Mr. Middlebrook said. "Then you have the time to consider how you'd further explore a certain moment, or a certain emotion. At rehearsals, this all came bubbling up to the surface. The show will be richer and more layered because of it."
"Edward Albee's The Zoo Story" runs this Friday and Saturday at the Annenberg Center at 3680 Walnut St.
Philadelphia - American playwright Edward Albee is perhaps best known for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?," the whip-sharp and caustic 1968 play revived several years ago on Broadway. But it's his first work that reveals a more focused vehemence on his themes. After all, this play was written in a three-week frenzy after Mr. Albee quit his job at the Western Union on his 30th birthday.
"Edward Albee's The Zoo Story" concerns two men who meet on a park bench in Central Park, seemingly different but with the same voracious appetite for human interaction. For the first time in Philadelphia, this absorbing absurdist play further explores the need for communication by using two sets of characters; one who use sign language and one who speaks.
The highly-accomplished director Coy Middlebrook first staged the production with Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles last January. Now, in association with Penn Presents and Creative Access's PaH Festival, Mr. Middlebrook and four very talented actors are ready to stage another run of this American classic.
"It's a beautiful reflection of the pain and loneliness of an isolated life," said Mr. Middlebrook. "One character is living on the margins of society, while the other is a well-to-do guy on the Upper East Side. But both are starving for contact, and to find meaning within someone else. That sense of desperation is harrowing."
In this production, the two sets of actors work together to provide deeper insight into the worlds of characters Jerry and Peter. The speaking actors don't merely talk from the side of the stage, but move around and interact, echoing the characters and adding insights to their emotional states.
"It really helps you enter into the world of the human psyche," Mr. Middlebrook said. "The two speakers are very much involved in the action, and help to provide an inner dialogue that is exciting to watch. It definitely adds another dimension to the characters."
Mr. Middlebrook, who has been directing since he was 15 years old, has worked on a variety of shows. He recently was associate director of the highly-acclaimed "Big River," which opened at Deaf West Theatre and was so well received that it made its way to Broadway and an international tour. He most recently directed the world premier of "Nobody's Perfect" at the Kennedy Center, which will tour the 2009-10 season.
Mr. Middlebrook was inspired to stage "Edward Albee's The Zoo Story" with Deaf West Theatre after considering how the visual dimension would affect the work.
"Jerry has a six-page monologue that is quite daunting for a director," said Mr. Middlebrook. "How do you make it captivating and engage the audience? I started wondering how sign language would elevate the scene, and what it would look like visually."
After receiving positive feedback from fellow members of the Actor's Studio in New York, Mr. Middlebrook got in touch with Deaf West Theatre. The company, formed in 1991 to improve the cultural lives of the 1.2 million deaf and hard-of-hearing around L.A., was immediately interested. And merely months after the successful run, the Philadelphia advocacy group Creative Access contacted him for their PaH Festival, which runs now through Nov. 20.
The sign language actors in the Philadelphia production are two acclaimed Broadway actors who worked previously with Mr. Middlebrook on Big River. Tyrone Giordano plays Jerry, and has starred in various plays and movies, including "The Family Stone" with Diane Keaton and Sarah Jessica Parker. Troy Kotsur portrays Peter, and recently acted with Jim Carey in "The Number 23."
Mr. Middlebrook is currently the associate director in the national tour of "High School Musical," but he considers the weekend in Philadelphia an opportunity to revisit an already enjoyable experience.
"It's such a blessing to spend time away from a work," Mr. Middlebrook said. "Then you have the time to consider how you'd further explore a certain moment, or a certain emotion. At rehearsals, this all came bubbling up to the surface. The show will be richer and more layered because of it."
"Edward Albee's The Zoo Story" runs this Friday and Saturday at the Annenberg Center at 3680 Walnut St.