The Richland Players Present: An Evening of One Acts. Featuring, The Zoo Story, by Edward Albee, and The Dumbwaiter, by Harold Pinter.

The Zoo Story 

by Edward Albee

The Zoo Story explores themes of isolation, communication, and the struggle for power in human relationships. The play takes place in Central Park in New York City and follows an encounter between two strangers, Peter and Jerry. Through their conversation, the audience is taken on a journey of self-discovery and the realization of the human condition.

The Dumb Waiter

by Harold Pinter

This two-character play is set in the basement of an old rooming house, connected to the rooms above by a dumbwaiter and an intercom. The men make small talk and wait. It becomes obvious that they are hired killers who are waiting for their victim, whose identity they have not yet been told.

Dumb waiters were first created so that gossip and conversation could not be spread after meals by living waiters. While they were created to limit one negative form of communication, they also created general disconnect and confusion. The importance of the dumbwaiter to the plot and symbolism of the play makes it clear that communication and lack thereof is a major theme of the play.