"ZooZoo contains no through-line or plot. It's pure physical theater. Each sketch lasts perhaps five to 10 minutes, and incorporates one to four performers. Only at the very end do we see their human faces. The staging is high and bare, presented with only minimal props, like a bed, a couple of chairs, or a mat. The show opens in silence and darkness, with a small swarm of luminescent eyes; they roll and dance against a dark backdrop, tumbling, meeting, and separating."
"Two hippopotamuses share a bed. They try to get along, but can't overcome the relentless attacks of gravity, space, and sleeplessness. Adults will at once recognize an insomniac's battle for the blankets, but kids will laugh when the hippos hit the floor. Despite being served food at a table, dapper anteaters locate their special diet on the floor, and among the audience. In a more understated but nonetheless mystifying scene, a paper bag levitates without wires. The full complement of four actors become polar bears."
ZooZoo is a wordless, two-act collection of about a dozen short, intensely physical sketches that blend dance, mime, clown and circus elements. Dancers wear animal costumes and masks, combining recognizable animal movements with human characteristics. The staging is high and bare, with minimal props and a dramatic opening in silence and darkness featuring luminescent eyes. Individual sketches run five to ten minutes and often feature one to four performers; only at the final curtain do performers reveal their human faces. Scenes range from comic domestic encounters to mystifying visual effects, and the second act grows more abstract.
Read at Portland Mercury
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