At the organisational heart of a UK newspaper conglomerate, sexism and racism push certain employees to their limit in this punchy, unpredictable play.
Written and directed by Farine Clarke, London Zoo stages its third iteration at the Southwark Playhouse Borough. The play centres on a UK newspaper conglomerate’s internal trouble as pressure mounts on the print media industry. Arabella (Natalie Lauren) is the company’s sole female director. She faces a continuous stream of misogyny from the CEO Alex (Dan Saski) as well as his right-hand man, Christian (Harris Vaughan) who both seem to be completely unaware of their sexist overtones despite their lack of subtlety. Arabella’s only hope in the company seems to rest on the presence of the soft-spoken accountant, Charles (Simon Furness).
Sunil (Anirban Roy), the apparent top-dog in the company, pushes the team to acquire a smaller albeit far more successful newspaper, The Daily Word. The Daily Word’s success is clearly that of their publisher Kelvin (Odimegwu Okoye), who happens to be black. Sunil’s racial prejudice becomes painfully apparent upon meeting Kelvin. Tensions mount as Sunil, Christian, and Alex push a ruthlessness in their business practice that Arabella finds herself increasingly uncomfortable with, and Charles finds himself in resignation to.
Though the play is pattered with enjoyable wit and humour, as well as a healthy dose of irony, the general sense of urgency from the cast is fairly lacklustre. The language of the play itself seems to imply significant stakes, including the livelihood of employees and a culture of insipid racism and misogyny, however the pace of the play felt irregular at best. The cast gelled together well and functioned as a great ensemble but did not seem to draw the audience into the earnestness of their circumstances. Individually, the cast nailed their characters; smarmy Alex and pandering Christian are perfectly blind to their bigotries, Arabella is clearly fighting a difficult internal battle of ambition versus integrity, Charles is solemnly acquiescent, Sunil is poised and proper with a venomous edge, and Kelvin is stoic and proud, tired of fighting a battle those around him refuse to acknowledge. Despite the intricacies of character that the actors have clearly investigated, the shape of the play lacked clarity. This is likely compounded by its odd structure; the first act runs at 60 minutes and the second at a mere 30. The play’s climax appears relatively out of the blue and reaches its conclusion quite suddenly. The final twist subverts expectations radically but is tonally inconsistent with the rest of the play.
London Zoo is a surprising, punchy play that will most certainly prompt discussion and debate. It is a measured, thoughtful piece that will shock you in ways you wouldn’t have ever anticipated.