In The Zoo Story, Edward Albee‘s first foray into writing for the theatre, Peter, an apparently comfortable upper-middle-class family man and publishing executive, sits on a bench, in Central Park NY, reading a book.​

It is a sunny Sunday afternoon circa 1958.

Jerry, a sloppily dressed transient, approaches and announces that he has “been to The Zoo”. Central Park Zoo. Despite Peter’s apparent reluctance to chat, Jerry strikes up a conversation. A startling and brutally honest conversation that radically changes the lives of both Jerry and Peter.